The Call of the Stars
by Best Bayne OCE
Summary: Soraka and Irelia struggle through the events leading up to and during the war on Noxus. Will Irelia realise her true destiny or will something get in the way? Multiple Female pairings. Rated M for nudity/sex scenes.
1. Chapter 1

Soraka staggered through the empty forest. The forest, unlike the grove she had lived in for centuries, looked dark and foreign to her in the moonlight. She staggered through the trees before collapsing in a clearing.

She was injured…..

He had done this to her. The man called Warwick, the one who had shown up begging for his dead wife to be saved, the one who she had trusted and the one she thought was a friend...

It had all been an elaborate ruse. When she used her healing powers for violence, blinding the men who had attacked him, the stars had taken her powers away, and when she healed his injuries...

"_Die bitch!_"

He had plunged the dagger into her chest but she had just managed to cast her remaining shreds of magic on him, but now her magic had gone….

And there was nowhere to go.

Her last thought before collapsing was that if she died, she might never join the stars in the sky.

* * *

**KYAAAH!**

Irelia swung her blade directly at the man standing in front of her with a shot that usually could have resulted in death had it been intended, but instead the young man simply dodged to one side and calmly parried the blow with his sword. Calmly putting his sword down he asked:

"Could you possibly have been any slower?"

She sighed. "Could you have possibly been paying any less attention?"

"I was paying attention"

"Then why did my strike nearly kill you?"

"Because it took so long to finish I thought training was over"

"Very funny"

"I know"

"And if you don't start acting like Father we're going to throw you in the dungeon for being a spy Zelos"

Zelos threw his hands up in the air in response "_Sisters_…" and walked off, leaving Irelia to walk alongside the fortifications and towards the Placidium. She had her father's control and piercing eyes and her mothers hair, while her brother Zelos had his father's grace and figure but was just….reckless. Their mother had died when they were both very young, but her father often said Zelos had her personality, presumably as a sort of compliment. Some of the nobles that were less than friendly with her brother called him stupid and arrogant, but never within his earshot. Not that he would have cared. Having reached the Placidium Irelia immediately went to find a table at the tea gardens, only to find somebody she already knew sitting at one of the tables.

"Mistress Karma! It's an honour to meet you here!"

Karma was sitting at one of the tables, dressed in her ornate black and white gown that she usually wore. One of the two fans that she always carried was in her lap, the other one was unseen, but Irelia stopped herself from asking where it was.

"It is a pleasure to meet you as well Captain Irelia, although if I am correct I believe I should be honouring your presence."

"Even though you are far more important to Ionia than I am?"

"I shall earn my true ranking with time."

"So what brings you to the tea gardens of all places? Did you wish to discuss something with me?"

"I was discussing with the elders about the possibility of an alliance with Demacia. If we were to work together with them…."

"Father and the elders would never stand for that. It would be an incitement of _war_!"

"It would be an attempt at protection! If the Noxians invade…"

"The Noxians have no advantage to gain if they invade us. You know this!"

"And you think that will stop them?"

"Yes."

"And if it doesn't?"

"Then may the celestials help us." Irelia stood up.

"I'm going to visit my father. Have you visited him?"

Karma stood up courteously. "Yes, although….. His condition isn't getting any better. The doctors still have no idea what it is I'm afraid."

"Thank-you _Mistress_ Karma"

"My pleasure _Captain_ Irelia"

Karma waited until Irelia had gone and then sighed. So stubborn. But she was like her father in a lot of ways. And Ionia did need people that would defend it against an invasion. She just hoped it wouldn't come to that.

* * *

Irelia had hated infirmaries for as long as she could remember. Every time she visited one could feel the fear and the suffering of the patients inside. _I need to visit at least once. For fathers sake_. Trying to remain calm, she walked up to the reception desk, dimly aware of the crowd gathering around it.

"Excuse me…..Can you tell me which room Master Lito is in?"

"I'm sorry, there aren't any visitors allowed on that floor right now. You're his….."

"Daughter. And I really have to go see him. Is it impossible?"

Irelia removed some gold pieces and placed them on the reception desk.

"Well I guess I can let you up... as long as you're quiet. There's been an incident in one of the rooms."

Irelia had already moved up the staircase but still turned around to call out a faint "Thanks."

Arriving at her Father's room Irelia was immediately relieved to find someone she already knew inside her father's room.

"Aunt Akemi!"

"Irelia! How nice to see you again!"

"…..Is father OK?"

"I'm sorry. The doctors….still have no idea what's causing the disease."

"Is he awake?"

"He's sleeping right now. Do you want me to stay a little longer?"

"I think you've probably been here long enough." Just as Akemi was about to leave Irelia remembered what she was going to ask her "Before you leave, did anything unusual happen while you were up here?"

"Some of the city guards came up here and tried to move Lito….I told them they'd have to move me first. So they left us alone."

Irelia paused, which Akemi used as her excuse to leave. Something about this didn't seem right. If there was an incident Akemi would have noticed, but she hadn't mentioned anything. So why was the entire floor being cordoned off? There was something going on here but…. Suddenly Irelia became aware of how tired she was. "Well I'm comfortable here and it's not like there's anything happening right now so I guess….a bit of a nap….couldn't hurt…..

Irelia awoke to darkness. Complete darkness surrounded her, clouding her senses. She moved forwards, slowly searching for the light switch. Then something moved directly behind her. She turned around. "Father? Is that you?" Then she saw it. A bloody bed sheet. "Oh no" She moved to grab her weapon but the assassin grabbed it and ran it straight into her stomach. "**NOT GOOD ENOUGH**." Irelia slowly dropped to the ground in pain, watching as the assassin took off their hood only to find the assassin….was her.

Then everything went white.

Irelia was floating, although where she was she wasn't exactly sure. She was in some sort of snow covered mountain range, floating about 50 metres off the ground just next to the top of a cliff face. Then the rider appeared, on one of the most beautiful horses she had ever seen. As the rider appeared she was stunned to realise that she recognised him "Zelos?" "What are you….WATCH OUT!" An arrow struck Zelos in the arm as he dived for cover. "STOP THE INFILTRATOR!" "FOR NOXUS!" The first, largest man charged Zelos, swinging his two handed axe, only for it to be blocked by Zelos' sword. The first man used his brute strength however, simply knocking the sword out of Zelos' hands . Turning around he screamed at the defenceless Zelos "NOW YOU DIE FOOL!" And just as he raised his axe to kill Zelos, Irelia saw a massive wall of snow crashing towards them….

"Zelos!"

_Thud_

"Zelos?"

Irelia woke up, startled. Quickly checking that she had her weapon and that her father was safe, she pinched herself just to be sure it wasn't a dream. It wasn't. Then she heard it. The same sound from her dream, except this time she heard it coming from another hospital room down the hall. Which was strange, because the entire floor was meant to be empty. Then she heard it again, except with muffled screams.

_That must be the same person who caused the incident before_

_The incident that the city guards decided to handle._

_The incident that meant all the poor people got moved while my influential father gets to stay behind…._

_Time to see what the government is hiding_.

Irelia walked silently down the hallway, opened the door to the room the banging came from and found herself staring directly at the thing whatever it was, that laid in the hospital bed.

And the creature stared directly back.


	2. Chapter 2

Irelia stared at the creature directly in front of her. In the candlelight Irelia could see the creature was almost human, but was covered in pale-blue skin and had long white flowing hair. Its hands and feet were bound and its mouth was gagged, and it was clearly in a lot of pain. Then the nurse ran in.

"Is everything OK oh my god you shouldn't be in here"

"What's going on here?!_" _Irelia tried to keep herself from screaming.

"S-she was unconscious before and we didn't know what she was going to do!"

Irelia tore the gag off but the creature was losing conciousness again "_H-help…..Starlight…."_

"You better not be responsible for this!" Irelia desperately tried to find the problem, and then noticed the chest wound.

"Her wound got infected and we can't find a way to treat it!"

"_Starlight…..Please…."_

"Starlight? What are you…" Then she noticed the window. "Undo the binds! We need to get her to a window!"

"Are you serious?"

"I think she knows what she's doing!"

Irelia grabbed the creature and carried her out of her room towards the window. The creature was light as a feather, and clearly emaciated. "This better work!"

As Irelia neared the window she thought there was more light coming through the window. "So what's meant to be happening…"

Then she knew there was more light coming through the window.

"Shut your eyes!"

The light kept getting brighter, getting so bright that Irelia had to shut her eyes and wondered how no-one would notice….and then it stopped.

Irelia opened her eyes.

The creature was standing there with her chest wound having completely disappeared, looking quite relieved.

"_Thank you"_

Irelia stood there in shock for a few seconds before gathering her wits "Are you a-alright?"

"_Yes. I hope I did not cause you any problems."_

"What are you?"

"_That is a question for another time when it is more convenient for both of us. Do you wish to meet tomorrow?"_

Irelia suddenly realised how tired she was.

"Y-yeah that seems like a good idea. You're not going anywhere are you?"

There was a long pause before the creature replied

"_No, I guess not."_

And with that unusual answer and an endless string of questions repeating themselves in her head, Irelia walked home, passing out as soon as she found her bed.

Once everyone had left Soraka got up from where she had been sitting. Walking over to the window she looked out at the stars and said to no-one in particular "_Thankyou_"

Irelia woke up the next day and practically ran into the hospital with excitement. She quickly made it over to the receptionist only to realise that she didn't know whether the creature had a name or not.

"Hi, I'm looking for…"

"You're looking for Soraka? The blue creature?"

"Yeah. Wait how did you…."

"She's somewhere on level 2. Just keep looking and you'll find her"

"…..Thank you"

It didn't take Irelia long to find Soraka, who was completely surrounded by patients.

"What's going on? Are you alright?"

" _I was helping these people with their injuries."_

Irelia stood there in shock for a few minutes before coming to her senses and pulling Soraka out into the hallway.

"We need to talk. What ARE you?"

"_I am a celestial being._

"A what?"

"_A star. I decided to live in Runeterra so that I could stop people suffering and heal their injuries. For 700 cycles I was happy. Then someone I knew was attacked. I fought them off but the stars abandoned me and I became mortal in the process."_

"And that's where you got your injuries?"

"_Yes."_

Irelia got the feeling Soraka was hiding something, but decided not to investigate any further. "So….are going to be returning to your home soon?"

"_No. I don't know how to return there. And even if I did…"_

Realising Soraka looked like she was going to cry Irelia decided to offer help

"Why don't you stay with me while you're here?"

Soraka stopped.

"_Thank you for the offer but I wouldn't want to trouble you.."_

"No it's fine. I have a large family." Irelia tried to look as sincere as possible and found apparently it was working. Soraka suddenly realising that she was already indebted to Irelia, decided to accept the offer. "_Thank-you. It would be an honor."_

And with that they left the hospital.

Soraka found herself staring at her surroundings in amazement as they walked through the garden. "_It's beautiful_."

"This isn't even one of the larger gardens in Ionia. One of the gardens is so large, it takes up nearly half of the city." The garden was filled with vibrant autumn colours, with enormous lines of red and blue flowers stretching towards a river. The view was so entrancing that Soraka found herself standing by the bank of the river without realising it.

"When me and my brother were children, we would sit on the roots of that tree over there on the edge of the river and pretend we were fishing."

Soraka smiled. "_Your kind have very unusual lifespans if nothing changes throughout your childhood."_

Irelia laughed "Making fun of me are you? Well was your childhood interesting?"

"_Would you regard a supernova as interesting?"_

"A what?

"…_.never mind."_

A few more minutes of walking passed during which Soraka remained silent. The walking had taken them out of the city and onto a path that led through some grassy plains. The only building that Soraka could see around the flat plains was a temple in the distance and she wondered how far they would possibly have to walk.

Then Irelia spoke again "Soraka…..we're here"

Soraka looked up. As they grew nearer to the building she thought was a temple Soraka realised that it was actually a house, although the sheer size of it meant that you could have 15-20 people living in it comfortably.

"_Is this your house?"_

"It's my families. I have a smaller place a little further round the back. Irelia grabbed a hooded cloak off a clothesline "Here put this on."

"_I don't think…."_

"I don't want you to gather attention yet. People might think you're… too unusual. And besides, it's mine."

As Soraka reluctantly finished putting the cloak on they walked through the temples centre and out into a larger outdoor area that was filled with small buildings. Irelia walked up to one of the buildings and opened the door. "This is where we're sleeping." Soraka looked at her in confusion. "I think there's another mattress in here somewhere…you want to look in a few of the cupboards?" "_Ok…..Oof!" _Irelia laughed. Soraka looked at her and sulked.

"…_.."_

"Well you found it at least!"

"…_."_

"God you look so cute when you sulk like that."

"_Cute?"_

"….Never mind. Can you wait here for 15 minutes? I need to talk to someone."

Soraka's mind was still buzzing with questions but before she could mentioned anything Irelia left.

"_Wait….._"

Well she thought, at least she had some time to herself.

" _Wait_. _Why am I trusting her? She could be manipulating me, trying to…."_

She tried to shut the thought out of her head but it kept going.

"_She's human. And humans are all manipulative. Think of Warwick, what he did to yo-"_

"_Enough." _She spoke out loud to no-one in particular.

Thinking to herself she decided "_Well I may as well have a look around."_

A quick look around indicated nothing other than basic belongings. Then something caught her eye. "_Where'd this tube come from? Must have fallen out of the cupboard from earlier."_

Opening the cupboard she looked inside then gasped. "_Blades? What are these…."_

Images flooded into her head of people coming to her, begging, pleading for her to fix their injuries. "_But why would she…." _Memories of Warwick pushing the knife into her chest surfaced and suddenly she found herself overwhelmed with panic. Voices screamed in her head "_She's an assassin she wants to kill you, you have to get out of here go gogogo"_

In a blind panic in the black of night with the cloak still covering her face, Soraka found herself running out of the temple and onto the plains.

"Zelos?" Irelia walked through the hallway down to near the front of the house. Zelos could be anywhere in the house right now, but she knew he would nearly always be in the dining room at this stage. She was just about to turn the corner when someone came around the corner from the other direction and ran headlong into her.

"What the-?" She was just about to tell them to look where they were going for once when she realised she had no idea who they were.

"You're Master Lito's daughter?"

She froze instinctively as a rising sense of dread grew inside her.

"I'm from the hospital, I'm afraid I have some bad news….."


	3. Chapter 3

Soraka lstood at the end of a long alleyway, separating two buildings that were dedicated to the foundation of balance, whatever that was. The alleyway itself was hardly large enough for one person to walk through and it reeked of some mould she had never seen before. She had wondered if she had been a little hasty fleeing from Irelia and if she should return to the house, but she knew she couldn't get back into the house without being seen, and even if she did, what if Irelia actually was what she had feared? "_Assassins, warriors….All they do is ruin other people's lives for their own benefit_."

Having eliminated that plan, Soraka knew she needed to find somewhere safe and quiet where she wouldn't be spotted. If only she knew where exactly somewhere safe was…..

She looked back the way she had came but all the buildings along these streets looked completely identical. "_It would be a lot easier to find my way around if these buildings didn't all have something to do with enlightenment. If only there was some way to get directions…."_

Then she noticed the child standing on the corner of the street. "_Perfect."_

On the opposite side of the street a woman looked up from her newspaper to see what the commotion was about. Her _accomplice_ had started yelling about something. Again. She checked her list. _Nobody to assassinate until next week. So what's the noise about?_

The man sitting next to her looked up as well.

"Shouldn't you and Shen be doing something about that?"

"Whoever started the commotion is, they're not on the list."

"_Perfect."_

Akali looked up, saw the man bolt across the street towards the commotion and facepalmed.

"_Those two….."_

Soraka walked up to the child standing on the street corner. "_Excuse me…."_

The child turned around. Then she noticed the ears. And the shurikens.

"_Never mind I'll just-"_

"YOUR SPYING ENDS HERE. NOXIAN!" Soraka ducked as the creature threw a shuriken at her. As the creature followed up and fired a lightning bolt out of its hands Soraka threw all her magic into blocking the attack, causing the lightning to vanish in front of her. "_I just want to-" _Another bolt of lightning came flying at her and she was forced to block it again.

"THIS ENDS HERE! LIGHTNING RUSH!" The creature turned itself into a ball of lightning and as it charged towards her she dived out of the way and as soon as it turned back she silenced it again. "YOU SHALL NOT ESCAPE!" Just as Soraka was trying to figure out how to stall this out further another man dressed like a ninja ran around the corner directly towards her, and a smoke bomb landed directly between her and the ninjas. Silently thanking whoever had thrown it, Soraka turned and quickly sprinted into the nearest building.

Karma was silently cursing to herself. She'd convinced everyone to show up to learn about enlightenment, and the final speaker hadn't bothered to show up. She stood up and grit her teeth. At least most of the people wouldn't realise there was a missing final speaker.

"Ladies and gentlemen, our final speaker appears to be running very late, however I would just like to conclude this session on celestial beings with-"

She suddenly found her speech interrupted when a celestial being ran into the theatre, leaving her completely speechless. The celestial being turned around, saw the enormous crowd and also stood there speechless. There was an awkward silence for several seconds, then the astonished crowd stood up and gave a thunderous applause.

Soraka stood on the theatre's stage, completely rooted to the spot in fear. There was one person on the stage with her and about 100 people in the audience and every single one of them was looking directly at her. She looked over to the person on the stage and was about to apologise profusely when the entire crowd started applauding. Had she missed something?

She hastily tried to back off the stage and out the way she came but the other person on the stage grabbed her arm. "I can help you. Follow me." The speaker made her way over to the microphone. "Our final speaker has encountered some unexpected issues, and as such this session is over." Confused, Soraka followed the woman backstage. As soon as they were backstage and away from the crowd the woman swiftly locked the door behind her. "I don't know _who_ you are or _what_ you're doing here but we need to talk."

Irelia's mind was in a blur. She still could hardly believe the news that she had heard, but she knew it had to be true. _Father…dead. After all he did for us. Not even his riches or his skill could save him in the end. _"….As is customary, his property and money will be left to the elder son Zelos. However as he specifically stated in his will, his sword will be left to his eldest daughter Irelia…."

Irelia looked up in shock. That's_ impossible. There must be a mistake. If he's giving me the swords then what he's giving to Zelos…?_

"Finally, he also specifically stated that in the case of his death but Zelos be promoted to sergeant in his stead. May his soul continue to find balance in the next life. Thankyou."

As all the guests drained out of the packed theatre Irelia glanced around. _I need to find Zelos fast. If he does something stupid... _Then she saw him, quickly moving away from the church. "Zelos, wait!" As he cleared out of the church she could see he was angry at the situation from the way he walked. Or rather angry at _her. "Zelos!" _Again there was no response, and Zelos was getting further and further away. _I don't care if Zelos wants to talk or not, I'm following him anyway. _She dropped back, hoping Zelos would think she had stopped following him, and watched as he entered the woods. Waiting until he was just out of view she followed him, using the trees as cover. Eventually they reached a clearing a short distance from the woods. Irelia watched as Zelos walked to the very edge of the clearing and then turned around.

"You can come out now, sister."

"Zelos, I'm….."

"You're not sorry."

"…_._You should have gotten his weapon."

"Well it's _yours _now isn't it? You can go out and do all the fantastic things that father did and I can just sit here doing _nothing!"_

"I can't just _magically _turn into father overnight now I have his weapon Zelos!"

"You can't? Why did he give you the weapon then? You've always been the brilliant one, the intelligent one the honourable one. You've always been the one with a future but he takes my future away from me and gives it to you!"

"Zelos….I actually am sorry."

"Just….just go."

"…"

"JUST. GO."

Irelia, knowing it would be best not to talk to Zelos when he was in a mood like this decided to head back to the Placidium alone. However the argument with Zelos still worried her.

_After all we've put up with together over the past few months and he abandons me like this…._

_Like Soraka._

She tried to get the thought out of her head but it persisted.

_Why would Soraka leave in the middle of the night after following me all that way?_

_Why do I even care about her in the first pla- _

Irelia paused so suddenly that someone crashed into her from around she saw the Fist of Shadow standing behind her acting as if nothing had happened.

"Oh hey Irelia! Fancy meeting you here!" Irelia looked at Akali for a few seconds, trying to figure out what was going on. _Akali talking to me?_ _She hasn't spoken to me in months…_

"Um….hi?"

"We haven't spoken in ages and I was just wondering if you wanted to do something relaxing together!"

Irelia ran through what she knew about Akali in her head. _Ninja, follows people around, breaks chains with her bare hands…_

"What have you got in mind?"

"We could go to the bathhouse together!"

Irelia froze. Somewhere in the distance a bird chirped. _Breaks chains with her hands…._

"I'd love to but…."

"I've already got the bookings!"

"This wouldn't have anything to do with _Shen _would it?"

As Akali had started to look like she was turning a completely different colour, Irelia changed the subject.

"Yeah sure I'll go! It should be fun!"

Akali stopped changing colour.

"Thanks…I guess."

The bathhouse was one of the most popular places to go in the Placidium, mostly because of its sheer size. It managed to contain 2 pools, an enormous spa and sauna and according to the ticket that Irelia held "private rooms". Irelia was wondering how private the rooms actually were when Akali opened a gate that said "No Entry" on it and walked straight through.

"We're here…."

Irelia looked inside the small room in front of her. There was a small lake in front of her, probably just big enough to fit 4-5 people comfortably and about 2 metres deep. "Do you want to go in first?" Akali's voice seemed to drop midway through the sentence.

Irelia moved forward hesitantly and sat on the edge of the lake with her feet and legs in the warm water. With the door to the room shut the entire room had began to fill with steam, to the point where Irelia could hardly see in front of her. She heard someone entering the water from the other side of the room "Akali?"

"Are you going to take your clothes off or _should I_?"

Irelia was trying to figure out what that sentence meant when Akali came out of the steam and kissed her. Hard. Irelia tried to break away from the kiss but Akali wrapped her arms around Irelia's head and continued kissing.

As Akali released the kiss she moved her hands down to Irelia's clothes while Irelia was gasping for air. As Irelia was released from her armor she felt butterflies form in her stomach and began to weakly try to protest. "I…..relax…"

"This _is _relaxing, you're just not used to it." Akali purred into her ear. "Just let me show you…" Akali climbed out of the water and began to climb on top of Irelia, forcing her into a lying position. As Irelia laid there helplessly Akali began kissing her small round breasts, forcing Irelia to squeal. As Irelia lay on the ground completely rigid Akali pressed Irelia's hand into her breast "C'mon Irelia why don't you start having some fun as well…."

Irelia was nearly completely unable to speak at this point but managed to gasp out a few words. "But…..Why….me?"

"Shen turned me down and all my other friends were making fools of themselves. I was about to throw the tickets in the trash when I saw you…and then I realised how curious I was."

"But…."

"You'rethinking too hard. Nobody knows we're in here, so you need to stop _controlling yourself. Don't you agree?" _Akali began purring as she finished the sentence and ran a finger down Irelia's chest down towards her legs.

As Akali said that Irelia felt all the muscles in her body loosen and as Akali's finger finished it's journey she realised how hard it was to disagree. "Yesssssssssss….."

Then everything slowly faded into warmth.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: THE ACTUAL PLOT BEGINS...next chapter.**

**In the meantime another NSFW Irelia pairing and another recurring character...but I'm not going to tell you who it is.**

**All characters are over 18.**

Irelia was on a beach. She knew it wasn't a real beach, but she felt too comfortable to move. Then the beach started fading away slowly into white. Hesitantly she opened her eyes a little trying to figure out why she felt so damp. "Where am I what's going on….SHIT!" She suddenly woke up completely as she realised she was naked. "How….what…me and Akali must have…." She looked around to find her clothes and found them piled by the door with a note on them.

_Had to leave early and didn't want to disturb you._

_I feel fantastic and I know you do as well…._

_Akali xx_

Jumping into her clothes Irelia rushed out of the bathhouse and down the street. The sun had already began to set over the horizon and despite her legs screaming at her to stop she managed to make it out of the Placidium before darkness fell. _If I don't get back soon I'm going to get skinned alive…._

Just as she made it into the plains a teenage girl ran out on the path in front of her.

"Help, help me please I think someone's_ broken into my house!_"

Irelia stared at her for a few seconds.

"Wait what? Slow down a little and just…where is this?"

"It's just over the hill in that direction _you have to help, please!"_

_There are houses along here?_

"Ok, ok I'll help. Are you alright?"

"Thankyou!" And with that the teenager hugged Irelia so violently she nearly fell over. Irelia stiffened.

"This is….. kind of awkward."

"Oh. Well… Thanks for helping anyway. I'm Sandy." Sandy blushed.

Irelia wondered why something was nagging at the back of her mind.

_Sandy? I think I've heard that from somewhere…._

"Well are you coming or aren't you? Come on then!" Sandy rapidly disappeared over the hill.

Irelia sighed. _What's the worst that can happen?_

15 minutes later she was beginning to hope she didn't find out. The walk they had taken had taken them deep into a valley and the sun had just finished setting over the horizon.

"How much further until we reach your house?"

"It's just over this hill…" Sandy whispered into Irelia's ear from so close it made Irelia lose balance.

"You can just talk quietly…."

Sandy shrank back and whimpered. "Sorry…"

As they climbed over the top of the hill Irelia stared for a few minutes. "You live in a _temple?"_

"I'm a runaway. I didn't want to tell you because I thought you would abandon me…"

"I'm not going to leave you out in the cold just because you're a runaway. Let's get you safe."

As they neared the temple Irelia looked around. "The robbers have gone….that's unusual." Lingering doubt entered her mind, only to leave as soon as she entered. The place looked like it had been ransacked, if it was a group of yetis doing the ransacking. _There's no way this can be staged. _Asthey passed a grandfather clock lying face down on the ground Irelia spoke.

"Do you need some help clearing all your stuff up or…"

"It's not my stuff…" Sandy paused for a second. "Do you think you can stay here with me tonight?"

Irelia paused. "If you want…then of course."

Sandy instantly hugged her again. "_Thankyou! _There's a bedroom down the hall…unless you want to sleep in my room." She blushed. Irelia looked at her. " I think I'll take the other room. "

As she left Sandy called out to her "My rooms just up the stairs!"

As Irelia sat on the bed she started thinking. _Something doesn't make sense…_

_But she can't be trying to hurt me. The place has been looted, the temple exists, she knows her way around…_

_There has to be a sign._

Then she saw the sign.

_Ok…._

Grabbing a nearby candle she left the castle and slowly made her way towards the sign. The shadows from the candlelight blended into each other as they moved, causing the signs writing to flicker. Irelia looked.

_Placidium 3 km_

_Lake blessed 4 km_

She moved to get a look at the last signpost then she froze.

_Whiteran 5 km_

The sign didn't mention the temple. The temple which was directly in front of it.

Why does a temple have a signpost for a lake pointing directly at it?

She took a step forward and her bare feet touched asphalt. She looked down and saw a path. A path leading in the same direction sign.

_Why is there a path underneath the temple?_

_Why is there a temple on top of the path?_

Then something slammed into her chest causing her to double over in pain.

"_What…?"_

Then everything went black.

* * *

The first thing Irelia noticed was that she felt as if she was in tremendous pain. Then she moved her head and realised she was in tremendous pain.

"I _really _need to stop blacking out all the time….."

She moved her head around slightly, letting her eyes adjust to the dim brightness.

"Is that the _sun….?"_

"Oh good you're awake. I've been waiting all night."

"Sandy…."

Sandy sighed. "It's Syndra. But _you _can call me Mistress."

Irelia tried to remember who Syndra was. _Wasn't she the insane mage with the flying building?_

Then she realised what was happening. _Shit._

Both her hands and feet were attached to the wall behind her with cuffs, except her feet were suspended several inches above the ground. The sunlight was streaming in through a window to her right and Sa…._Syndra_ looked incredibly excited.

"I don't know what you want me for but you're not getting away with this. So you can stop looking so excited."

"You're interesting! Exactly what I was looking for. It does get _incredibly_ boring around here… What was I getting to again? Oh yes that's right. You are now my slave!"

Irelia looked at Syndra, trying to figure out if she was actually insane yet.

"Right."

"Right _Mistress."_

_Oh joy._

"And how exactly do you plan to get me to follow your orders?"

"Well you can follow them or be crushed by my _unlimited power!"_

The entire temple shook.

"See? We're in the air now."

Irelia gritted her teeth.

"You're _still _not getting away with this. I'd rather die than be your slave."

"It's not THAT bad. Honestly. I am an incredibly intelligent, kind woman with the ability to do whatever I please. All you have to do is add Mistress after everything you say. And submit to me completely. Then when I take over Ionia think of the _possibilities!"_

Irelia snorted. "You're not going to take over Ionia with one slave."

"You're not going to take over Ionia with one slave _Mistress. _It really shouldn't be this hard.

And I'm not doing it with just you. I'm going to seduce some men like I was planning to. Some that can actually fight. Then when they've all fallen in love with me I can abduct someone that's _important _and make the Placidium fall to its knees!"

Suddenly it occurred to Irelia.

"You have no idea who I am."

The enormous pain from before returned as Syndra summoned a sphere less than an inch from her chest.

"Why would I need to know your name? You're my slave. And maybe that will knock some sense into you and get you to start saying _Mistress." _Syndra got up and began leaving the room. "Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to find myself a boyfriend. And you're lucky, I might find you a boyfriend as well."

Irelia swore.

Syndra giggled and summoned a sphere inches away from the first one before she left the room. "It's fuck you _mistress." _

Irelia shut her eyes and imagined what Syndra being set on fire would be like.

* * *

Syndra yawned. She had been waiting for at least 30 minutes and only the occasional group of people had bothered to walk past. And none of them were even remotely attractive. She thought of her slaves obeying her every command to stop her getting bored.

"_Take off your clothes." "Yesssss mistress" her slave crooned in its deep manly voice. She turned around to watch her slave…and saw her female slave instead. _

She woke up with a start. "Well that was….I'm not into girls. Am I?"She had abducted a woman, of all things. And she had tried to seduce her on the way to the castle. And she had been watching her from the window. And she had absolutely lost it when the woman tried to leave. And she had deciding that feeling her soft skin before she woke up wouldn't hurt….

"That was…research. I had to do that. Otherwise…" This was driving her nuts. She got up to find something else to do, before remembering something. _The note._

She took the note unfolded it and read it. And read it again. _Akali….isn't that a girls name?_

She smiled. Well this was interesting. Time to seduce her newest slave…..just out of curiosity. Of course.

Irelia was quietly wondering if her day could get any worse when Syndra walked in again surrounded by 5 of her spheres. The manacles loosened and Irelia fell to the ground.

"Come with me."

Irelia couldn't be bothered arguing but didn't feel like responding, so she followed Syndra in complete silence. Eventually they made their way inside a library, where light was streaming in through the stained glass windows.

"What do you want." Irelia said while avoiding eye contact with Syndra.

"I've decided to let you go."

Irelia looked at her in shock while trying to figure out if she was joking or not.

"On one condition."

"Forget about it."

"I want you to take my virginity away."

Irelia froze, as if she couldn't quite believe what she just heard.

And with that Syndra took her shirt off

"Well?"

And Irelia started sprinting in the opposite direction.

* * *

Irelia knew she was running away from Syndra. That was for certain. Why she was running away? She had absolutely no idea. Syndra had taken off her shirt, told her to take her virginity away, and Irelia had looked at her and….. She wanted to do it. She knew there was a part of her mind that wanted to do it so badly...

But she was running.

"Nervous are we?"

Suddenly Syndra appeared and threw an orb directly in front of Irelia knocking over a bookshelf and blocking her escape. Irelia swerved and Syndra laughed.

"You know it's easier just to give in…."

"Jailbait!"

"You saw my body and you liked it!" Syndra started massaging her breasts, which only inspired Irelia to run faster. As Syndra blocked off another escape route Irelia ran through the only open door, only to crash directly into someone.

"Soraka? What are you…?"

"_Finding you!"_

"Wha…How?"

"_I followed the noise!"_

"That's not what….Never mind, just run!"

Bolting down the staircase Soraka ran into a side room. As Irelia wondered how on earth Soraka found her, Karma ran in through another door.

"Where is she?"

"Who?"

"Syndra!?"

Irelia suddenly remembered Syndra was topless.

"I'd rather not talk about it!"

As Karma stared at her the doors they just ran through disintegrated. Syndra was on the other side of the doors, somehow wearing the same corset from earlier. Less relieving was the bookshelf hovering behind her.

"_**How dare you! I will crush you for interrupting!"**_

As she threw the bookshelf at them Soraka silenced her, causing the bookcase to fall short of its destination and land directly in front of them. As it missed, Karma threw a bolt of magic at Syndra which exploded as it struck her.

Irelia turned. "So what's the plan?"

"_That was the plan."_

Syndra reappeared through the haze, with about 5 spheres surrounding her. At the same time the castle started slowly moving upwards. Then Irelia noticed something.

"I know a way out."

"_What?"_

"There's a door down the corridor behind us and out the first door to the left. I've been down here before."

Karma looked at them. "This might be a stupid question but do you think you can run?"

"We're not going to be able to outrun her."

"That wasn't the question. On the count of three…"

As Syndra released her power directly at Karma, Karma responded with an enormous shield and roared "RUN!" Then everything happened in slow motion.

The magic hit Karma, tore through her shield and knocked her backwards.

Soraka grabbed her and pushed her towards the exit. Syndra summoned a final sphere directly in front of Irelia, but Irelia ran _through_ the forming sphere and leapt out the doorway.

As she turned around, she watched as Karma and Soraka leapt out the castle, which was now floating several feet above where it had landed.

Irelia was relieved to notice Syndra had stopped following them.

Then Karma spoke "Irelia, do you want to talk about what happened in there?"

"No."

"_Duck!"_

As Irelia and Karma threw themselves on the ground a sphere flew over Karma and embedded itself in a nearby hill.

Karma got up.

"Well that was close."

* * *

As Syndra watched Irelia and Karma leave she felt a dull rage burning inside her.

"They took away _my _slave. My _first _slave. I'll show them all…eventually."

Catching another slave would be pointless. Especially now she had developed an attachment to the first one. For now she had another plan. Sending the castle back into the sky, she then assembled the gear she needed with her magic. It wasn't hard. She hardly needed anything. All she needed was her magic, a change of clothes, a hair tie…..and her ability to act.


	5. The Plot Thickens

Irelia felt appalling. Her arms ached, her head ached and her legs felt like they were on fire.

Soraka looked at her curiously._ "Are you alright?"_

"That's the 4th time you've asked me that….."

_"Does that mean no?"_

"It means yes."

_"Are you sure? I am a healer…"_

"We're only going to be walking for another 5 minutes, I'm pretty sure I can make the distance. And you can stop telling me you're a healer."

_"Humans are such curious creatures…"_

As they eventually made their way towards her home it occurred to Irelia she still had absolutely no idea how she was going to explain what had happened.

"_Irelia…_"

Soraka grabbed her hand and Irelia recoiled as something shot through her arm.

"What was that?"

_"I healed you. Do you feel any better?"_

"We're standing outside my house!"

_"And?"_

"…..Thankyou. But can you only heal me….when I ask for it?"

_"Ok….Are we still friends?"_

"Yes! I just….can you not heal me against my will?"

_"…."_

Irelia knew that if they stood outside for any longer, she would definitely be seen, and she didn't feel like answering questions."

"I'm going to get someone. Just….wait here."

Re-entering the house for the first time in 24 hours, she looked around. "Zelos! Hello?"

The silence that followed was deafening. _Something's wrong_. Then she realised Zelos' stuff was missing.

"Zelos?!"

She nearly sprinted up to Zelos' room. "Zelos are you alri…."

There was a note neatly scribbled and attached to his door.

_Gone to Demacian scout fleet at Navori to prove myself._

_Catching boat at 5:30 Sunday_

_Sorry_

_Zelos_

She reread the letter desperately hoping it wasn't true. "I never got the chance….to make him understand…" Then she looked up and saw the time. 4:15. _He can't have left more than 15 minutes ago…._

_But that means I still have time_.

She sprinted around to the stables at the back of the house. The largest horse was missing. But the fastest one was there. She jumped onto it without even thinking and they galloped off.

_I don't know how, but somehow, I am going to stop Zelos before he does something he's going to regret._

Soraka looked up at the sound of hooves, only to see Irelia ride past.

"GoingtoNavorista….."

After looking around in shock she realised she was alone.

_That was…..unexpected._

She thought about her choices.

_"I either stay here… Or I go back to the Placidium."_

_Well here is safe…._

Then she remembered something that Karma had mentioned.

_But the Placidium has a library._

Making up her mind she walked back towards the Placidium. She knew her way around now. And she would only be gone a couple of hours.

- -'- - - - -

The wind whipped through Irelia's hair as the horse bolted down the path. She had covered so much distance so fast she knew she was only 15 minutes away, but the horse looked like it was on its last legs. _Come on…just a few more minutes and then we can stop. Just a few more minutes…._ As she turned the corner to complete the final stretch of the path she slowed. The path was blocked by a group of people, and behind them, a barricade.

I don't believe this. 15 minutes away from Navori and I'm being fucking robbed?

She hesitantly got off her horse.

"I don't want any trouble. Just let me pass."

**"You will not pass."**

She looked at the group in front of her. A two handed swordsman, a swordsman, two guys with no weapons, and an archer. She drew her weapon.

"I don't think I heard what you said. You want to reconsider?"

**"Turn around Irelia ****_Will_****_of the Blades_****, for your destiny is still to come and you shall not pass!"**

Outnumbered by Noxian mercenaries. And one of them is a barbarian. Just great.

"I don't know where you got that title from, but if you were Ionian you would be helping me. And since you must be Noxian….I control my own fate."

As Irelia moved towards her horse the archer fired an arrow she hadn't even noticed had been drawn. It shot over her and her horse and embedded itself in a nearby tree but cut her off from her horse. She drew her weapon and the barbarian sneered at her.

**"You think you can fight us? It's time for us to show you how outmatched you are. Drop your weapons!" **

She stared as he lazily threw his weapon aside, and it embedded itself in a nearby tree. Then one of the unarmed men stepped forwards.

_Oh joy. A martial artist_. She noticed the covering over his eyes. _And he's blind too. _

She placed her weapon down and stepped forwards._ Well it's not as if I have a choice…_

As she stepped forwards she immediately darted towards the blind man, hoping to throw him off guard, only to find her hand striking thin air. _What_? As he went for a strike she turned around and tried to counter, only to find that once again he had avoided it.

_He's not even anticipating my moves. _

Moving to the edge of the path she stared at him as he watched her move. He has to make a move sooner or later it's not as if….

**_"This ends here!"_**

Suddenly the blind man slammed his fist into the ground releasing a shock wave that caused her to stumble. As she recovered from the shock wave he immediately appeared directly in front of her and with one armada bed her by the throat and lifted her straight into the air.

**_"One measures strength by how much pain one can inflict. And I can inflict a lot of pain."_**

As he said this, Irelia gasped and had to bite her tongue to stop herself from screaming. She felt like her entire body had been set on fire.

_I am not going…to let him have the satisfaction…of seeing me scream…_

As she wondered how long she could keep this up at the hands of this psychopath everything happened in slow motion. The pain stopped but she was being thrown further away from the ground…and then she felt a foot slam into her chest. More pain erupted from her chest where the foot had struck it followed by more pain when she hit the ground. As she lay there in the oncoming darkness she wondered what on earth she had done.

**_"You're finished with the Will of the Blades. She will survive?"_**

**_"Yes. Her inner strength is remarkable."_**

**_"And she is out of their sight?"_**

**_"Of course. You were not watching?"_**

**_"Why would I watch? That was hardly what one would call a battle, or interesting. "_**

**_"So the mission is finished?"_**

**_"Our labour is finished. But the fruits are yet to come."_**

Irelia lay on the ground watching the night sky creep in. She knew that there was absolutely no chance that she would finish making it to Navori. _Zelos….. I swear on my fathers weapon that somehow I will repay you for this failure_. She tried to get up only to be hit by a wave of intense pain. "Aaah!" She bit her tongue again to stop herself from screaming.

Ok. She lay on the ground for a few seconds as she tried to think. _Have to keep moving. Legs…fine. Arms….fine. Ribs….shit_. Using a nearby ledge she propelled herself upwards and just barely managed to stay balanced through the pain. _I have to get out of here. And I'm not going to make it back the way I came….. _

Desperately, she struggled onwards. The temperature had dropped to freezing and she could feel the pain in her chest with every step. She had no idea how far away Navori was, but she knew she had to be getting close. _Just a few more minutes…_

"And then I threw the other one of my axes right, and it killed him, obviously, but when I checked it…."

She froze. She had no idea who was talking but they had a Noxian accent, and were somewhere on the path ahead. Her instincts kicked in and she fled off the path into the undergrowth. The pain that burst through her chest was nearly completely ignored.

_Noxians? Here?_

It suddenly occurred to her that the fight with the strange man from earlier might have been more than a coincidence.

_But why would they try to stall me unless….._

_Fuck._

"So I'd killed two people by landing two axes in exactly the same spot!"

She moved through the forest as silently as she could manage, thankful for the fact that the talking was drowning out the noise of her breathing. The group was Noxians, and every single one of them was armed to the teeth.

"Light the torches!"

She froze like a rabbit caught like a predator, only for another Noxian soldier to speak up.

"I don't think that's a good idea…."

"I'm Darius's brother, you'll do what I say!"

The biggest man out of the entire group stood up and brandished his axe.

"The next person who lights a torch gets their head removed from their body."

"Weren't't you sleeping?"

"I wasn't sleeping **_I was pretending to be dead_**."

"But there's something stuck in my teeth!"

Irelia moved away from the group even faster than she'd been moving before.

_I have to warn the guards. If the Noxians are on this side of Navori…._

As she saw the guard outpost she ran towards it.

"There are Noxians….You have to get everyone out of here, it's a trap!"

The guard looked at her as if she was kidding. Grabbing her weapon she pointed it at him, and he suddenly realised how serious she was and sounded the alarm.

Then looked at the ocean and squinted. "What the…."

Suddenly the guard fell over dead with an axe embedded in his back. A Noxian walked up, pulled the axe out his back and stared at Irelia.

"Hey there…..Whatcha doin' tonight?"

Irelia stared at him. It was the same talkative Noxian she had seen earlier.

"All the ladies wanna join the league of DRAVENNNNNNNN….."

"You're a _monster_."

Then everything went to hell.

An explosion rang out, bathing the entire port in flame. As the Noxian readied one of his weapons a man leapt out of nowhere and swung his sword at the Noxian, and as the Noxian dodged, kicked him in the face.

"Move!"

Another explosion rang out as Noxian troops began storming the port.

Irelia wasn't exactly sure where she was meant to move to, so she stood her ground.

"We have to protect the civilians!"

As another cannonball crashed into a building next to her a large group of Noxian soldiers flooded in through the way she'd just came. A group of Noxian battleships began closing in on the dock, attempting to cut off the only other way out of the city.

"They're already escaping! Get to the side gate and I'll hold the Noxians off!"

"That's suicide!"

"Just go!"

At this point most of the area was on the verge of collapsing or on fire. Irelia knew that if she stayed, she would die, and the civilians would be helpless. And if she left…an innocent man would die to the Noxians.

Realising there was only one decision, she gritted her teeth and ran towards the side gate.


	6. Some very special treatment (NSFW)

**_A/N: Sorry this chapter took waaaay longer than it should have. I had trouble writing the start and the end...I got excited._**

**_Peace._**

Yasuo wondered how one of the most boring days he'd ever suffered through had ended with half the town being set on fire and a Noxian army trying to kill him. _This is much better. I don't know what I'm going to do, but this is much more exciting._

A building behind him exploded into flames, sending soot and bits of wood everywhere. As the flames intensified, the area around him was lit up in a dim glow, and a group of about 15 Noxians turned in his direction. _Ok. Now I know exactly what I'm going_ to_ do._

Sprinting into a tower at full speed, he turned and waited for them to follow._ 3….2….1… _

Then 4 men charged into the building tower behind him

"There he is!"

_Steel tempest._

Two of the men immediately began to regret standing directly behind him, as they were thrown into the air.

_Last Breath_.

Yasuo was the only one that landed alive.

The third and fourth men attempted to swing their swords, only to find Yasuo was faster.

_Done._

He looked around, only to find a 5th Noxian staring at him and holding a runic weapon that looked to be nearly 5 feet long.

_Or not._

"FOR NOXUS!"

_A woman?_

The Noxian threw herself towards him at an enormous speed, and he quickly darted in the other direction. Turning around he quickly slashed in her direction, only for her to block the damage and try to slash his legs.

_She's too agile for either of us to have an advantage. _

As he waited for the Noxian to make another move, she simply slammed her sword into the ground, releasing a shock wave and knocking him over.

_What the-?_

Knocking his sword out of his grasp, the woman moved forwards to finish him.

"Are we done here?"

"Yes, commander Darius. Should we continue the offensive?"

You continue the offensive. I'm waiting for someone."

"Yes sir."

Darius knew he should probably be leading the offensive, but he wanted to talk to Riven before he left about the invasion. Riven was the only friend he had left in the military, as he refused to talk to people more cowardly than himself and her skill was enough to impress even him. Occasionally. And Riven's unit had charged into the tower after someone.

"Permission to open fire on the tower Commander Darius?"

"Denied."

_ Riven can easily take any Ionian by herself_.

Then there was a large _whoomph_ and the tower exploded.

Yasuo had decided if he was going to die he was going to die honourably with his eyes open and as close to his sword as he could possibly be. Then there was an explosion. The tower shook. The Noxian paused. And in a split second he grabbed his sword and charged.

_Steel tempest._

A tornado flew out from the blade of his sword, knocking the Noxian over and tearing her weapon from her grip, sending it flying to the other side of the room. As Yasuo charged forward he paused.

_I could kill her. But to what end? _The town below was swarming with Noxians and Yasuo knew that killing this woman wouldn't aid his escape_._

He looked behind him at the gaping hole created in the tower by the explosion.

_Well this could be fun_.

Then he leapt.

Karma yawned. _Monday. Hooray. I have to go and work with a bunch of nutcases again. Where'd I put my coffee?_

Walking out the front to get the milk she was mildly surprised to see a shuriken go flying past her.

_"Spy!"_

"What….What are you doing Kennen?"

_"Looking for spies!"_

"And why are you doing that?"

_"Because we've been invaded!_

"…."

"Have you been sleeping under a rock?"

"I've been asleep."

_"Well they reached Navori 8 hours ago!"_

_Aaaand it's 7:00 in the morning_. Then she realised. Navori. That's near...

"I really have to go."

She started sprinting off down the street.

_"Go where?"_ Kennen looked at her as she nearly flew past down the street.

"HOME!" She yelled back, not really caring if Kennen heard or not.

_If I don't get to my village soon something really bad is going to happen..._

* * *

Irelia wasn't sure what was worse out of having her ribs broken, or getting tied to the hospital bed. A nurse walked past her room and she called out, trying to see if she could at least get her arms free. _It's worth a shot._

"Excuse me."

"Yes?"

"I'm tied to the hospital bed."

"It's for your own safety."

"Who gave you that idea?"

"Some of the other nurses insisted."

_Did they now..._

"Can I speak to Soraka please?"

"She's busy."

"Tell me if she's free then."

"My pleasure." And with that the nurse left leaving Irelia to stare at the ceiling again.

Just as Irelia had counted 300 sheep, the nurse came back in.

"You have another visitor."

A man walked in that Irelia could not remember for the life of her.

"General Lito, it is a pleasure to meet you."

_Oh shiiiit._

"It is a pleasure to meet you too Master…."

"Yi. I have come to offer you the assistance of the Wuju in the oncoming battles."

"Thankyou. I accept your offer."

As she finished talking he stared at her.

_Was that too soon? I hope that wasn't too soon_. She tried to think of something useful to say, then thought of something.

"They will be useful in the defence of The Placidium."

She watched as he stopped staring at her and stared at the ceiling instead. Then he spoke.

"You are injured?"

"It wasn't in the invasion. Some monk dropkicked me into a tree."

"Some kick." He got up to leave and Irelia remembered a favour she had to ask.

"Can you contact some people for me?"

Akali was cursing to herself. _I bet everyone else gets paid for their assassinations. And what do I get? Balance. And a dead end job with shitty hours_.

Then someone ran past her in a blur. Then ran past her back the other way. Then stopped in front of her.

"Akali?"

"Yes?"

"General Lito wants to speak with you."

"Does she now?"

Realising she was blushing slightly she looked up, but Yi had already run off.

* * *

Irelia was nearly completely worn out, despite still being tied to the hospital bed.

She had tried to find the troops needed to fight the Noxians, only to find that convincing the monks to fight was completely impossible, and the Kinkou Order hadn't even bothered to respond. So she'd only found about 30 people.

_At least I got a few good swordsmen to join up._

She stared out the window of her room for what seemed like forever and tried to go to sleep but the Kinkou not bothering to show up was irritating her. She hadn't just needed to talk to them about the war. There was something else she had noticed…

Then Akali walked in wearing a nurse outfit that would make men speechless, and shut the door behind her.

Irelia looked at her, completely speechless. _What on Earth?_

"You called?"

_GODAMN IT. Yi manages to find the only one I don't want to see. Well, actually..._

Telling the truth occurred to Irelia but then she had a better idea. Still speechless, she nodded.

"So you _do_ miss me _don't_ you…."

Akali said this as she walked over to the window and pulled the curtains across.

Irelia nodded again, wondering what the true answer was.

"But are you missing my _voice_?"

She took off her dress, walked over to Irelia, and started stroking her face.

"Or are you missing my _body_?"

"_The…the_ second one."

Akali climbed on top of Irelia. "I was hoping you'd say that."

Then she kissed her. Seizing the opportunity, Irelia kissed back as hard as she possibly could and felt tingles run down her spine. Releasing the kiss Akali moved downwards, nearly tearing Irelia's gown off in a frenzy.

"Aren't you going to untie me?"

"Why would I do something like that?" Akali began moving a finger down between Irelia's legs.

"Beca-_ooohhh_…"

The same sensation from last time swept through her as Akali placed her head between her legs. As the feeling intensified Akali removed her head and smiled.

"You wanted to talk about something?"

"U-untie me!"

"You look too cute to refuse…."

As Irelia felt the ropes around her being untied she grabbed Akali and pulled her in closer and held her there with another kiss. As they kissed her hands began to rapidly explore Akali's naked body, slowly moving upwards over her chest and then downwards...

"You're getting braver, aren't you?"

As Irelia blushed at the compliment Akali moved her hand back in between Irelia's legs and as the feeling intensified pushed Irelia's face into her body.

"_Sssshhhhh"_

"Aaaaah-_mmmmmph_" Irelia sighed as she felt the muscles in her body loosen.

Akali removed her hand but left her chest on top of Irelia's face.

_She seems to be enjoying herself..._

"So what was it you wanted to talk to me about?" She teased.

In response Irelia simply ran her tongue as far as she could across Akali's skin.

"_Mmmm_…keep going.."

As Akali waited she continued to run her hands down Irelia's legs. Eventually Irelia found the ability to pull away and Akali repeated the question.

"So what was it you wanted to talk to me about?"

Irelia yawned. "I'm too tired to talk about it right now. Can I talk to you tomorrow?"

As she smiled at her Akali's heart did a double take.

"Ok….sure. But you better tell me or…."

"Or what?

Akali's heart did another double take.

"Umm… I'll think about that later. OK?"

As Irelia smiled at her, she hurriedly left the room.

As she left the hospital he had to wonder quietly to herself.

_Gods….What have I created?_


	7. Do Stars Dream?

**A/N: Yes. Yes they do (SPOILERS).**

**Sorry for taking ages with this chapter, which actually happens before directly before the previous one starts.**

* * *

Soraka walked silently through the forest, towards the ancient grove that she called her home.

She had become accustomed to the sounds that came from within the forest, the rustling of leaves underfoot, the pass of birds chirping overhead…..

She stopped. There was something else, something making the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. She looked around the forest, only to find nothing unusual nearby.

_So what's making that noise?_

Focusing intently as she walked, she was surprised when she heard the noise again, even closer to her than before. The voice seemed unusual, almost inhuman and she slowly began to wonder what it was.

_Is that….someone laughing?_

"_**Hwahahahaha…"**_

Soraka froze. There was something familiar about the voice, something she couldn't quite place. But it was something she was going to find out.

_I can do this._

Trying to calm herself, she started walking toward the source of the noise. The other noises from the forest had grown quieter and quieter as she approached, which was a little strange. The forest getting darker and more ominous however…..

"_Hello?"_

Something was very wrong.

"_Is anyone there?"_

_The laughter definitely came from over here…._

The undergrowth rustled behind her and she had to stop herself from running.

_There's someone behind me._

"_Why are you hiding?"_

She tried to ask the question as firmly as possible, only for it to come out as a series of response. The forest had become completely still, and all Soraka could hear was her measured breathing. Assuming this meant that the entire thing was part of her imagination, Soraka turned around.

A pair of red wolverine eyes stared back.

A scream rose in her throat.

"_**Die bitch!"**_

Then she ran.

She stumbled blindly through the increasingly dense forest, not caring where she was going or what she was going to do because the only things that mattered were not slowing down and not looking behind her _no matter what. _

She could sense Warwick getting closer as his footsteps got louder and louder and his breath got heavier and heavier on the back of her neck. Just as she was thinking about using her magic to slow him down, stop him, _anything, _she saw a pathway out of the forest. _A road!_. Desperately sprinting towards it, she could see the road in front of her and somebody walking in the distance.

_Is that….Irelia? "Irelia!" _She yelled at the top of her voice only to find no response.

_How did she not hear me? "IRELIA!"_

As she finally made to Irelia she heard Warwick laugh, a deep sinister laugh from somewhere well behind her.

"_**Hwahahahaha…"**_

Irelia turned around, her eyes blank, and her face completely expressionless. Then everything in front of Soraka dissolved and she started falling into darkness.

* * *

The first thing Soraka noticed was that the surface under her hands was a little unusual. Slowly getting onto her feet and opening her eyes, she saw nothing but dirt. _Where…..where am I?_ Looking around trying to get an idea of her surroundings, she found nothing she could place. _Nothing standing anyway_. The area was completely lifeless and surrounded by a thick fog, with a mess of rubble and dirt and a few half built structures sticking out of the ground. The terrain felt familiar but looked unusual enough so that she just couldn't place exactly where she'd seen it before. Determined to find out what was going on, she picked a direction on the road and started walking.

After a few minutes she wished she hadn't. The surroundings were beginning to look more and more like a war zone, and there were…_.bodies. _Bodies, male and female of all sizes, some that were damaged so badly they were nearly completely unrecognisable. As she walked past a horribly mutilated body she had to resist the urge to throw up. _Just keep moving….._

As she slowly moved forward she saw a figure through the fog and paused nervously, waiting to see what would happen. "_Hello?"_

As she called out the figure turned and slowly began to move towards her. As the figure moved towards her she prepared herself to run, only for Irelia to make her way through the fog. "_Irelia!" _Relief surged through her mind, only to be replaced with panic as Irelia collapsed into a heap in front of her. Sprinting forwards, she grabbed Irelia in her arms and struggled to hold her upright

"_Are you alright?"_

Irelia tried to nod, but her face was ashen and she could hardly move her head. As Soraka looked down she saw droplets of blood staining Irelia's armour

"_I'm going to get you to safety, ok?"_

As she said this she started trying to drag Irelia to safety, only to find her body felt like lead in her arms.

As she slowly pulled Irelia along, Irelia gained the energy to begin talking.

"Where were you….when they attacked?

Soraka stared at her in shock, hardly able to speak.

"Why…..didn't you... help…me?"

_I….I don't know what she's talking about._

"_I'm…I'm going to see if I can heal your injuries ok? Just…save your energy."_

"Where….were…you…"

As Soraka tried to channel the magic she felt something slip, no,_ get pulled_ away from her.

_No….. My magic…It can't be the stars trying to stop me. It can't be._

"_Come on Irelia…. Stay awake…I'm just channeling the magic now alright?"_

Desperately she began to put more energy behind her magic, not willing to let it get stopped, not caring about the danger she was putting herself in, just refusing to let Irelia go.

"_Just this once….can't you let me save my friend…"_

As she prepared to channel the magic one last time she felt it get pulled away from her, but continued anyway.

"_Irelia….I probably won't make it through this…I'm sorry."_

Irelia was completely silent, her face a deathly white.

In an explosion of light, Soraka released the healing magic within her. "_IRELIA!"_

Then everything faded to orange.

_Thud._

_To orange?_

As Soraka tried to figure out the reason for the orange light, she also found herself slowly opening her eyes. Blinking a couple of times to adjust to the dim light, she paused as realisation dawned on her.

_Was that….a dream? _Hurriedly, she looked around at her surroundings.

A wooden table, lit solely by a dim candle was in front of her, and a book laid on the floor nearby. Aside from a few dim candles the room was dark, and there was a dim noise from outside. Rising, Soraka slowly began retracing her steps. _Irelia left….so I went to a library...which is where I am now. I must have fallen asleep for a few hours. _She sighed gratefully, suddenly full of relief. _Irelia's alive. She has no idea where I am….but she's alive. _Grabbing the candle she left the library as quickly as possible and began running down the street to Irelia's house. _Hopefully I can find her before too long, otherwise….I don't want to think about it. _Exiting the library with the candle, she stopped briefly in confusion as someone exited the building across from her in the same way. Looking down the street she paused. _Actually, there are a lot of people with candles. What are they…?_ Quietly following the others, towards the centre of the city, she wondered what was going on. Then she saw the enormous group of over 100 exhausted and clearly terrified people they were heading towards. And just off to one side…._Ohmygod._

Ireliawas crouched over in front of the mass of people, and was clearly in an enormous amount of pain. Sprinting over, Soraka quickly helped Irelia up without even waiting for a response.

"_Irelia! A-are you alright?"_

"I-I'm fine…" Irelia staggered and nearly fell over, only for Soraka to catch her.

"_Something's wrong._ _I'm going to get you to safety…just stay there."_

Irelia started protesting weakly, only to burst into a coughing fit. "I-I can walk…"

"_STAY. there. I'm going to find help."_

Soraka looked around trying to find someone to ask, only for a brown-haired woman to wall over and pick Irelia up as if she was only an infant.

Soraka stared at her, in a combination of wonder and shock_."What are you….."_

"You needed help?"

"…"

"Well come on then!"

Soraka looked at her for a few seconds in confusion, and then meekly decided to follow.

_She must know Irelia somehow. Well she seems to know what she's doing….._

"_You're one of Irelia's friends?"_

"I guess you could say that. Are you one of her friends?

"_She's my friend!"_

"..."

"…"

Soraka paused, startled at her own reaction to the comment.

Irelia mumbled something softly under her breath and the woman began to softly speak back to her.

"Sshhhhh….everything's alright Irelia, you need just need a bit of rest. We're at the hospital now."

"Akali…."

"Shhhhh…"

"_Is that your name?"_

"…..Yes. Yours?"

"_Soraka."_

A few more minutes passed, in which there was complete silence between the three of them. Then as they reached the hospital Akali spoke up.

"We're here...I'm going to get Irelia inside."

"_I'm coming too."_

"…"

As Soraka felt Akali's gaze on her she decided to make her feelings clear.

"_I'm. Coming. Too."_

Wordlessly they entered the hospital. The sight of Soraka following a woman holding another woman in her arms clearly astonished the nurses.

"She's been involved in an accident. Is there a room?"

"I'm not sure…"

"She's high priority with broken ribs and a fever. Make space."

Wordlessly the nurse walked off, only to come back a few seconds later.

"There's a free bed, third room on the right."

"_Thankyou."_

As they entered the room, Akali gently placed the nearly sleeping Irelia down on the bed and started running her hands through her hair. Irelia looked exhausted and feverish,, but luckily fell asleep as soon as she hit the bed.

"You're safe now…go to sleep."

As Soraka sat down, she realised she had to ask Akali something, but had no idea how to get her attention. As Akali left Irelia's side, she waved to get Akali's attention.

"_Can I talk to you for a minute?"_

"About what?"

"_It's just…I'm a healer, but I'm worried if I heal Irelia…"_

"...She'll get into danger again."

"_Am I…Am I doing the right thing?"_

"She's going to be fine. And I don't know how to explain it but yes. You are doing the right thing."

"_Thankyou."_

Akali yawned. _"_Now if you'll excuse me….I think I need to get some more rest."

And as quickly as she had arrived to help….she was gone, leaving Soraka to reflect on her own thoughts in the candlelit darkness.

_Irelia….you're my only friend. The only person that's valued me as more than just some…..some object. And for that….I am not going to lose you. _And as Soraka ran through her thoughts, somehow, _somehow_ her hand managed to find Irelia's.

"_Irelia….I will do anything in my power to save you. Because no matter what happens, I am never going to lose you. Never."_

And as the nightmares from only hours ago flashed through her mind, she realised something.

"_Never again."_


	8. Never to be forgotten

**A/N: Sorry this came out rather later than usual, I had other stuff to write and this is a looong chapter (at least by my standards)**

**There are more important notes at the end of this chapter, I just felt like saying hello. **

Shifting nervously, Akali stared out at the ocean in front of her. The forests of Ionia, where she had just completed her latest mission, lay behind her and she wondered if she could have afforded a few more days in the city just to make sure there weren't any attempts to gather the information she had _disposed _of. Clearing her thoughts, she stood up and continued to look out over the ocean for any activity. _I'm not thinking straight. Kennen stayed behind instead of me because he would swim these isles if something happened on the mainland and I wouldn't._

An image of Irelia appeared in her mind.

_Wouldn't I?_

Turning around to make sure the boat hadn't arrived yet, she swore under her breath. "_Fucking_ Irelia…..put me in this shitty situation. I was on top of my feelings for you, and then you went and nearly got yourself killed!"

_If I hadn't done something she wouldn't have survived, and then…._

_And then what? Disappointment? I did my job. I killed those Noxian spies. Nobody would be disappointed. _

_Except me. _

Picking a rock up and throwing it in one motion, she threw it as far as she could. It flew several feet, directly into the Kinkou strait.

_And then she asks me to do one thing, just ONE thing. Find the people that attacked her. _

_The people that have completely disappeared, and also don't even exist!_

_The barbarian and the viking. Gone. _

_The blind martial artist who nearly killed Irelia and nobody in Ionia has EVER heard of. _

_The archer who no one knows despite him having purple skin and not even being human. _

_And…_

_And the other one._

Noticing the sail appear in her view, she instantly snapped out of her trance and walked down towards the small boat as it moored by the dock. On the boat, Shen looked in her direction with indifference, which was expected. _He's practicing. Maybe I should test him a little…_

"Shen! How are you? Wait, let me guess..." She paused mockingly. It was an old joke, but a good one, at least in her opinion.

In response, Shen smiled at her., nearly causing Akali to fall off the boat in shock.

Sheepishly she smiled back. "…That was fake wasn't it."

"That might get you to stop asking me that dumb question."

"Could also get you disqualified."

"We're on a boat in the middle of absolutely nowhere. I think I can have fun occasionally."

As Shen stopped talking, Akali found herself fidgeting nervously again. Dropping the oars, Shen looked at her and Akali could tell he was clearly concerned.

"Something's wrong?"

"Have you….ever heard of other types of ninja?"

"They don't exist, at least as far as I know. Why?"

"A very high ranked Ionian I know was attacked by assassins. One of them looks like a ninja."

"And they can't be Noxian?"

"Another two were barbarians."

Shen frowned. "That seems…..incredibly unlikely. You just…know this Ionian?"

"It's complicated." Akali shifted again at she noticed Shen glaring at her. .

"So what are you going to do?"

"…..Ask someone…Preferably not my mother..."

"…You're going to have to ask my father."

As the temple island appeared on the edge of the horizon, Akali felt as if a chasm had just appeared where her stomach should have been.

_Why didn't I just stay in Ionia when I had the chance…_

* * *

Storming between the giant stone columns that made up the main quarters of her house, Irelia threw herself down onto the nearest chair. _This is ridiculous. Fucking ridiculous. My ribs improve to the point where I can go home….and then they keep me locked up there instead. _

Resisting the urge to throw something, she threw out a kick which slammed into the nearest pillar and sent a bolt of pain into her ribs.

"Shit!"

"_Are you alright?"_

Irelia turned around to face Soraka. "None of your business."

"_I just thought I heard something….is everything OK?"_

"Well thanks to you I'm locked up in my own house…"

"_What did I do?"_

Irelia glared at her. "You're a terrible liar. You…Akali….My family….The council…She motioned to the guards outside her home. You're all working against me."

Just then someone knocked on the door.

"What is it?"

The door promptly flew open revealing one of the biggest men she had ever seen, standing well over 6 feet tall and dressed entirely in animal fur.

"General."

Irelia tried her best to ignore Soraka staring in shock at the man.

"….Good evening, Spirit Walker."

"I have come to repay my debt to Ionia."

"Did you find the people I requested?"

"Only one. He fit the description you gave…but he is…. also one of my closest friends. He comes to plead his innocence."

Staring at the Spirit Walker for a few minutes, Irelia tried to come to terms with what he just said. Pleading innocence was allowed…but also completely insane.

"Plead his….innocence? Send….send him in then."

"Lee!"

The man walked in and kneeled and Irelia stared in shock..

"General."

This was the monk that attacked her alright, with a few major differences. Instead of baldness, long black hair covered his head.

And the red cloth she had seen covering his face….

"You're…._not_ blind?" Of all the things she thought she would find, a man with sight was the least likely. And considering the way he'd fought against her, also completely impossible.

The two men stared at her as if they had absolutely no idea what she had just said.

"Why….would I be blind?"

"Because the man that attacked me resembles you exactly…. and yet also happened to be blind."

There was an awkward silence that seemed to last forever. Then the Spirit Walker spoke.

"**Sorcery**."

Seeing no other option Irelia had to agree. "You…can both go."

As the two left the complete silence resumed. Looking around, Irelia was filled with confusion and also dread.

_If this is over as easily as I think it's over, why did Lee look like he was hiding something? And even if he wasn't…then why did Soraka?_

* * *

Akali slowly managed to put herself into a sitting position. Upon arriving at the temple she had slowly managed to bring herself to considering asking Shen's father about the incident, only to immediately receive a summons about the war for that night. And since that was just about the only thing that could have made her day any worse….she'd gone straight to the spa instead. Making growling noises to anyone who wondered if she had something better to do. _Wonder how long I have to lie here before the Kinkou drag me away…_

Almost directly after, someone unexpected walked in.

_Zed. In full armor. What's he after?_

She looked around wondering if he was looking for someone else, only to find she was the only person in the room.

_Well I might as well try and look dignified._

"Long day?"

"I'm fighting Shen soon." _Well that was blunt. _

"Again?"

"Will you be watching?"

_Wait what? _

"Presumably."

_There's something unusual going on here. _

Determined to find what he was hiding, she went straight for his weakness.

"It'll probably just be another draw though, won't it?"

If Zed reacted, she didn't see it. "You never know. I might have a few surprises…."

Akali realised she was staring at Zed as he walked off.

_Considering you're inviting everyone to come watch…you've definitely got a surprise. ._

_But what?_

Jumping out of the water, Akali raced back to her quarters to prepare to watch the fight.

_Why do I get the feeling this fight is going to go horribly wrong?_

Quickly making her way towards the fight arena, Akali was hoping that the overwhelming sense of dread she had was just her being paranoid. _Like that's going to be true. With the amount of people I've seen heading in this direction, someones has to be going to lose this fight. Fast. And since Zed went out and invited them…. it's not going to be him. _Entering the arena, she found a crowd of people already inside. And already in the centre….

"Like my new fans, Shen? They've come to see you lose!"

In response Shen bowed and half the crowd started chanting his name.

"You ready?"

"I was _born _ready! Let's do this!"

_Zed has to be up to something. And Shen knows it. _

As the fight began Akali watched as Shen charged forward into Zed, nearly knocking him over. _Maybe I was wrong to be paranoid. This seems pretty standard…_

Responding, Zed quickly threw a lightning fast counterpunch that bounced off the side of Shen's face before he could dodge it and sent him staggering.

The entire crowd went into uproar as Akali stared at the battle in front of her.

_That was way too fast. If he had been holding a weapon..._

Hardly aware of Shen or her surroundings, Akali continued to watch Zed fight intently.

_This can't be me imagining things. He's not even trying to use his training. It's almost like…._

_He's pretending to be an assassin. _

As Shen blocked another round of punches he lunged forward again to try and take Zed by surprise, only for Zed to dodge and move backwards. Backing away from the direct assault, Shen began to slowly circle around Zed instead.

_And you can't give an assassin that amount of space._

Then Zed charged.

_Thunk. _

So fast that Akali could hardly see it, Zed sent a blow directly towards Shen's ribs. With no way to react in time, Shen countered as the blow struck regardless, sending a huge kick towards Zed's chest as Zed dropped his guard for a millisecond. Akali stared. The kick missed. And Zed suddenly appeared behind Shen and knocked him to the ground.

The battle was over. And Akali knew that Zed wasn't following the path of balance anymore. _The other ninjas….they do exist. _

_And if I know….so does Shen's father._

Suddenly overcome with an urge to throw up, Akali bolted out of the arena, and away from the shouting beginning within.

* * *

Throwing open the door, Karma stormed into the Hall of the Elders. After hoping her village would be left unharmed or be in full retreat, she had been horrified to see an army at least the size of the village directly outside, and petrified to see people continuing their normal lives within the village regardless. And now…..she wasn't in the best of moods.

"I cannot _believe_ this. In case you somehow haven't already guessed, we are being _invaded_."

"We were already aware of that situation." The enormous respect Karma usually had for the elders had never been in doubt before, but from what she knew of the Noxians….this was _insane_. "So why hasn't anyone in this village actually _begun_ to_ retreat?_

"The Noxians made it clear as soon as they arrived that we cannot retreat without being cut down. They continue to ride horses around our valley in the morning and light torches around our village at dusk."

Karma stared in confusion. _They can't expect us to fight, can they?_

"So what the _fuck_ are they waiting for?"

"They haven't said."

"There has to be another way to get the villagers out of here. Perhaps if we do it in the dead of night while they least expect it…."

"We are going to ask for a peaceful resolution."

"_What?" That's suicide!_

"It is clearly what the Noxians are waiting for, and is the _only_ option we have."

"They are going to _cut you down_ the minute you leave the village. They do not accept peaceful surrender!"

"We do not have any other choices to make!"

"Well let me think of one!"

"I am not changing my decision if it means going against tradition!"

"_Please_!"

"…I think it would be best if you left us to discuss this ourselves."

Barely able to control her emotions, Karma threw open the door, walked outside, swore, realised she was walking towards the enemy army, swore again, and walked as far away from the army and the hall of the elders as she possibly could.

* * *

Sitting on the shore of the temple island, Akali stared out in the direction of the Ionian mainland. As the clouds had arrived from over the horizon, the wind had sent massive gusts in from the ocean and Akali could feel ice crystals forming from the seawater on her skin. But she didn't move.

_I have no other choice. If I go back inside…..I will have to tell people what I know. _

_And then…..they will hate and fear me. There isn't any other option. _

Closing her eyes, she thought of Irelia again to slowly calm herself down.

_She's standing, directly in front of me. And we can live together and I won't be judged by anyone and…..she's not is she. _

As she heard a noise behind her, she opened her eyes to see nothing but water and the distant shape of the mainland in front of her. The footsteps she heard approaching were nearly as natural as breathing to her, and she saw no need to turn around.

"Akali."

"Mother. Am I late for the meeting?"

"No. There were…..unusual circumstances."

_I thought so. Zed's been removed. _

"So I thought I'd inform you myself. The war in Ionia does not require our intervention any longer. ".

_What? But I just completed a mission there! _

"We did all we could."

Akali stood completely still, putting all her effort into looking indifferent, while on the inside her mind was in turmoil.

_But that means…_

"And as we cannot interfere in the war any longer, and cannot reach Valoran without passing through Ionia, nobody is permitted to leave the island. Including you. Do you understand?"

The impact of those words was so strong Akali nearly lost her balance with shock.

_But if I can't leave the island…I may never see Irelia again, _

As Akali saw all her hopes become crushed in front of her, she realised her mother was waiting for an answer. And in that instant she knew she would have to say the hardest two words of her entire life. After a couple of seconds, she said them.

"Yes, mother."

* * *

Furious, Karma stormed around the border of her village. Her attempts at coming up with escape strategies having failed, she was now furious with both herself and the elders, but still found herself becoming obsessed with finding an escape. Nearly completely insane with her obsession, she suddenly realised she had company, spun around, and stiffened. A little girl, barely older than 8 or 9, stared back at her.

"Are you alright?"

Taken aback by the question, Karma stared before regaining her composure.

"Yes. I was just…." Having no idea how long the child had been standing there, she decided to lie as little as she could. "Thinking about something."

"Thinking about what?"

"You wouldn't understand." Whatever she had just said was clearly the wrong thing because the child gasped in awe.

_"_Are you thinking about magic? Are you a mage?!"

"Well… I guess you could say that." Karma knew she had enormous magical potential, but using it….the thought of using her powers absolutely terrified her.

"You should just use your magic on the army and make them go boom!"

She froze. What was stopping her from just firing a spell into the army and killing everyone? It would be so easy and yet…. to her people, to the child standing in front of her, it would make her a cold-blooded murderer.

"I…I don't have the magic."

_But what if I do? What if it was that easy?_

_Why is the village so damn noisy?_

A thought struck her. _"_Shouldn't you be doing…something else?"

The elders went out to talk and they haven't come back yet so I'm meant to be in the attic... But this is way more exciting!"

Karma's blood ran cold. _I'm out of options._ _They're coming. And that means….everyones going to die. _As she looked at the innocent child before her in that instant she felt something powerful stir within her. And in that instant she knew what she had to do. "Go home. I have to go somewhere."

"_Where are you going?"_

_Where am I going?_

_I'm going to stop that army, even if it kills me._

* * *

On the outskirts of the Placidium, a small crowd had gathered to investigate the opening of a new store, which for some reason, sold only chocolate. Looking at the crowd gathered for the opening, Syndra was rather pleased. It did take a lot of work to get the store set up. Far less than an average person, but still quite a lot of magical labour.

_As soon as I start my plans to take over Ionia the entire island gets surrounded by Noxians. Bloody hell. Still… this should be a useful distraction for the time being. _

The crowd went silent as she took to the stairs in front of them and spoke.

"I hereby declare Sandy's chocolates to be open for business!"

* * *

As the Noxian army prepared to begin the massacre, Karma slowly walked towards the gate of the village and towards the waiting Noxian army, almost without thinking. Her mind and every fibre of her body were completely devoted to using the magic within her, but she still managed to find her way through the gates until she stopped less than 100 feet away from the Noxian army. The cold, hard eyes of the general stared back at her, showing faint amusement.

Smirking at her he jeered mockingly.

"Another offer of peace? I thought you would be less stupid."

Looking straight into his eyes, Karma spoke as calmly as if he was a close friend.

"This is not a offer of peace…this _is a gesture of resistance."_

Then she exploded.

What happened next, she wasn't entirely sure.

_I can't remember getting up, but here I am….Did I fall over? _

_I felt something come out of my chest…._

She looked at her chest only to find it completely intact.

_Did something happen?_

Suddenly aware of the complete chaos surrounding her, she looked around and saw two dragons easily 20 feet long on either side of her and made entirely out of fire. Then she realised the enemy army was moving away from her. _Is the enemy army….retreating?_

Giddy with jubilation she turned around. "_Everyone! Get out, now!"_

The village people looked at her as if she was completely mad, which admittedly wasn't that far from the truth. Desperately trying to get her point across, she tried screaming at them again. "_I'm not sure how long I can hold this up for! Placidium! Now!"_

And with the enemy army in complete disarray, Karma, the two dragons, and the remaining population of the village swarmed towards the safety of Northern Ionia.

* * *

As wave after wave crashed into the rock face below her, Akali stared out in the direction of the mainland even as thick fog began to descend, completely obscuring the mainland. . Suddenly as a massive wave crashed into the rocks below her, Akali looked up in shock as she felt water cascading down her face.

_Am I…Am I crying?_

_I guess I must be. _

_Because I'm afraid…I'm afraid Irelia is never going to forgive me. _

_Because I'm afraid that Irelia is going to forget…forget that I ever existed. . _

Slowly, she managed to get to her feet. She had other duties she needed to attend to, duties she had forgotten about. But she swore for as long as she was trapped on this island, she was never going to forget Irelia's face. And as she turned away from the shore, she swore she heard Irelia's voice. Turning around as if she was speaking to Irelia for the last time, she spoke.

"Goodbye Irelia_._ I...I will_ never _forget you."

_**End of Part 1**_

* * *

**A/N:** **Sooooo the reason's the stories in parts now is because I realised there was a plot hole just before I started writing this chapter, and the parts was how I fixed it. So part 2 is identical to part 1 except there's around a 7 year gap between the end of part 1 and the start of part 2. I should take the same amount of time to post the first chapter of part 2 as I did to post this chapter give or take, and probably even less because the chapters are shorter, and I'll add it as a new chapter to this story when its up.****_  
_**

**In the meantime, thanks for reading!**

**Love you all.**


	9. The Blades Handle?

_**This chapter takes place 7 years after the old one, and is still a prequel to the old lore, at least in parts. So I'm using the old lore as canon at least until the actual plot gets going. This part will probably be about 2 to 3 times the length of 'Part 1' if you could call it that but with uni finals in a months time I'll see how I go.**_

* * *

As the sun began setting over the horizon, thick smoke billowed over the silenced Placidium. With their optimism and defiance against losing their culture having vanished, the residents could only watch as the last few homeless and heavily injured survivors stumbled through, more casualties of Noxian ruthlessness. _Now there's nothing between them and the Placidium. Except us. And our luck is coming to an end._

From the window of her quarters above the centre of Ionian military operations, Irelia stared towards the source of the smoke. Ionia's luck had been remarkable for most of the war but in response the Noxians had launched a series of desperate attacks that had given them the advantage. And now….

_Soldiers with the strength of ten men and the brains of wild animals. They were bombed before they could turn around and savage their own troops. But the Noxians got what they wanted. _

"I'm going to talk to the war council."

Despite the fact she lied constantly now, she still found it hard to believe how easily they came out of her mouth. _It's not a big deal. No-one will die because of it. I just want to ask about something. _Leaving her quarters, she made her way through the Placidium, which was now completely empty. _Everybody's gone. _Slowly she walked through the abandoned city.

_Everyone's found something important to do. Presumably that means he should be the only person in the... gar…dens…_

Slightly in shock, she stared in surprise at the hundreds of people meditating silently. It was almost as if everyone in the Placidium had decided to meditate at once. _Or maybe he won't be. This is….a lot of people. And if people who rarely meditate have decided to start…then people who always meditate will definitely be around. _

Attempting to disturb as few people as she could, she walked towards the looming monument in the centre of the gardens. _The Wuju shrine._

_We never did find any other survivors from the village. _

Despite the vigorous arguing by the only survivor of the Noxian onslaught of the Wuju, the shrine had still been constructed, but not without extensive changes from the original design. Even considering that the original design would have bankrupted Ionia, the version they decided on seemed to be a little….plain.

_What's it going to look like when we actually get gems to furnish the place with?_

Slowly she moved around the inside of the shrine and looked around for any signs of movement. _Nothing. _Not that she expected anyone but him to be here anyway.

Walking around as quietly as she possibly could, she called out softly. "Hello?"

She knew that he wasn't dangerous but didn't want to take any risks. After his entire village got destroyed he was calm in appearance but on the inside….

_No-one knew what he was like on the inside. _

The warrior entered the room and customarily knelt in front of her.

"General Lito."

"Master Yi. Did I interrupt?"

"No, not at all. I wondered if you would arrive."

We're fighting tomorrow."

"I was aware of that. You wanted to discuss something?"

"Yes."

"You're nervous. Don't be. If you succeed, you succeed, if you don't, why does it matter if the reinforcements come or not?"

"I want to give a speech. To the troops tomorrow. And I have no idea how to inspire them. Do you….?"

"A wise man once said that great speeches do not come from the mind. They come from the heart. Which means that instead of being inspiring…one should just be honest instead. "

"But how do I…"

"And _that _is for you to figure out tomorrow. For now, however you look like you need to get some sleep."

"But…"

"Goodnight general Lito."

With the conversation having been completely sidetracked and rampant self-doubt running through her mind, Irelia decided to leave, despite being more puzzled than before. "Goodnight, Master Yi."

_How on Earth does he expect me to be honest with them? I'm not even honest with myself! There's no way I'm telling the troops how suicidal this is, and no way I can make something up!_

_Unless…._

_I know someone inspirational. _

As quickly as she could Irelia set out towards the hospital.

* * *

"_Come on…"_

_I can do this. She's going to wake up any minute now and…_

_She's not going to. _

_I tried but…._

_I'm so sorry. I don't know who you are…but I'm so sorry. _Closing the eyes, Soraka suddenly felt sick. _I….I just don't know what I'm doing anymore. _

_And everything I have done…has just made things worse. _

Soraka had began by refusing to acknowledge the war and had simply healed the innocent civilians. But Ionia had a culture that needed protecting, the wounded had kept showing up, the Ionian soldiers had families….

Then everything had gone horribly wrong. Either the Noxians had realised they were fighting the same soldiers repeatedly or they had just become desperate, because they became absolutely ruthless. And then the necromancy started.

If healing someone could be have been called easy, it rapidly became nightmarish. Injured soldiers and civilians started dying in the dozens The Noxians realised they were succeeding and brought better necromancers. And the war dragged on with no end in sight.

_I forced this onto everyone._

"Soraka…is everything alright?"

_The nurses keep insisting I'm doing well…but I know the truth. _

"_She's dead."_

"I'm….I'm sorry. But you couldn't have done anything…"

"_I could have not bothered to show up. All I've done is get in the way."_

"But it's not your fault!"

"_YES. IT. IS!"_

Practically storming out of the building, Soraka stormed down the street, hardly even caring where she was going.

_I should have died while I had the chance._

* * *

The hospital was so completely packed with people that Irelia felt worse just by entering.

_Could I have done something to save these people? Honestly? I…I'm getting paranoid. _

"Where's Soraka? I need to ask her something!"

A nurse looked at her. "She just left! You might want to wait though she's a little…"

_Oh great._

"I'll deal with it!"

_Why didn't I tell her while I had a chance!_

_The day before we defend everything in Ionia, and the only thing I can think of is that fucking speech!_

Storming outside, Irelia ran towards the library, her determination making her completely oblivious to the patient in the hospital who seemed to be watching her….

* * *

Soraka had only made it half of the way towards the library before she ran into the last person she wanted to see. Or rather, the last person she wanted to see ran into her.

"Soraka?"

_!_

Soraka quickly tried to act like nothing had happened but couldn't bring herself to make eye contact. _"__Yes...Duchess?"_

"I was just wondering if I could accompany you to your house for a few hours?"

_Why does she want to ask me now of all things? _

Finding herself unable to refuse the offer without being impolite, Soraka grudgingly accepted. _"__I guess you may as well come…" _

As they started walking, Soraka found herself walking towards her house instead of the library while containing her mood as best she could. She wasn't in the mood for conversation but she couldn't refuse the only person who actually understood her. Whether that was good or bad…..was something she would deal with when the time came.

"Nice….house.."

"_I didn't choose to live here."_

Soraka's house could probably be described as a small temple much to her chagrin. Why celestial beings were deserving of larger houses still managed to have eluded her.

"Ionia has a tendency to reward you whether you want it or not. I'm currently thinking of living somewhere a bit smaller as well. Should I prepare some tea?"

"_Thankyou….Did you want to discuss something?"_

Karma sighed and put her ornate teacup down on the table. _"_To be honest…I saw you upset and I just wanted to know what was troubling you."

Soraka suddenly realised that she had underestimated Karma's perception enormously. Stuck between a rock and a hard place, she panicked.

"_I can deal with it myself!"_

"Not from what I've seen."

"_I just…"_

"Hold my hand….and try and tell me what the problem is."

Reluctantly Soraka clasped her hand together with Karma's. As she suddenly felt Karma's warmth and touch she froze in place, and Karma's hand tightened even more firmly around hers. Slowly she began to focus on the sound of her slow breathing which had become the only noise in the room.

"Are you feeling any better?"

"_I'm…I'm just making people suffer."_

"That's not true. Think of all the people who you've managed to save."

"_I haven't saved anyone! The only people that really needed help are the ones that I…"_

"You haven't failed anyone. People sometimes die and there's nothing you can do about it. You just have to let go."

"_I can't let go! What happens if the war continues? What happens if I lose someone who I trust? What's going to happen now because I'm USELESS?!"_

As Karma began to speak _the_ slightest trace of emotion began to enter her voice.

"Soraka, listen_. _You can't carry the world on your shoulders. Believe me…I've tried. I don't like talking about this but I once felt like you do now. I felt like I was the only person doing anything and that everything I was doing was the worst thing to do…But I was wrong. You need to realise that having talent does not make you the cause of every problem. Do you understand?"

"_Yes." Karma has a beautiful voice…._

"Now this is probably more harm than good, but…I'm going to tell you anyway.

Have you ever heard of the Institute of War?"

"_No…"_

"It's an organisation that for the last 20 years has been promoting peace throughout Runeterra. Basically they organise the massive conflicts between nations to occur with only 6-10 people in tiny arenas with use of magic. So no wars…no deaths….no injuries. Just magic. About 2 years ago I began arrange Ionia's arrival into the Institute and now...I've finally finished. Within the next few days the final steps will be achieved and then…we'll be safe."

"_And the war?"_

"There will be no war. Noxus can't fight us because they've already joined the Institute. And then Ionia will be at peace."

_The war can end. We just need a few more days…and then it will end. _

"_Have you told anyone else?"_

"The general knows, the council know and the general's advisors….but that's it. If I told anyone else…there would be chaos."

"_And if Noxus invade before then?"_

"Then I will fight them every step of the way to the city centre."

The room was once again overtaken with dead silence.

"_Karma….whether it works or not…for trying this…you're still incredible."_

"No I'm not I-I'm just…"

As Karma suddenly turned beet-red, she stood up.

"_Is something wrong?"_

"I think I should be going…."

Mimicking what Karma had done earlier, Soraka grabbed Karma's hand.

"_You can stay here, I don't mind."_

There was a final long pause. Then Soraka decided to break the silence.

"_Hot chocolate?"_

"Soraka?"

Irelia was so certain the library was empty that getting caught yelling was bothering her far less than accidentally overlooking where Soraka was. The problem was every time she prepared to leave, there was another corridor she couldn't remember whether she had checked yet or not. Every. Single. Time.

"Soraka…"

_This is ridiculous. Not even the librarian's here_.

Somewhere on the balcony above and to her right, she heard a door slam shut.

_That has to be her. _Moving in the direction of the noise she wondered briefly to herself if she was getting lost. _This library would be a lot easier to navigate if they took all the bookshelves away..._

Starting to head towards the source of the noise, she suddenly ducked out of the way by pure instinct as a dagger flew past her head. She looked up. A man in a ragged Ionian soldier outfit and a face full of scars looked back at her.

Throwing another dagger he snarled at her and the dagger missed her by barely a fingernail as Irelia subconsciously moved out of the way.

_Really? Assassinated in a library?_

_I'm going to kill that Noxian piece of shit. _

Sprinting, she threw herself behind an enormous bookshelf, using it as a wall. As she saw a hallway in front of extending into another room she quickly analyzed her surroundings.

_He can't see me, or the hallway from that angle._

_He has to know there's a room because there's a hallway there from the upper level too. _

_I can't see him either but he's on the balcony, and he's not going to try a fistfight, so there are two ways he can go to check this side of the room and he's expecting me to run. _

Slowly, she backed out the way she came using the bookshelf as cover.

_No response. He hasn't seen me from up there…..so he'll keep searching. _

As quickly as she could possibly go without making any noise, she painstakingly made it to the upper level and passed through the hallway to the room she had seen him enter.

The possibility of it being a trap flew through her mind.

_If the room isn't large or furnished he could already know I'm behind him._

_If I'm not going to die it better be both. _

As she entered the room something metallic threw itself at her and she lurched out of the way. The assassin, with blades somehow literally emerging from his wrists, snarled at her.

"_Die."_

Then he charged.

Putting all her attention and effort into dodging his swipes Irelia found herself completely unable to retaliate to the assassins longer reach.

_If I had my weapon with me….._

_There isn't any way to beat his range!_

_Unless…_

In desperation, Irelia threw out a massive kick at the assassins head only for him to duck underneath it and unleash an enormous swipe at the same time directly towards her chest.

Grunting in response to the visible scratch marks on her blouse, Irelia threw out another punch, and watched as the assassin simply stepped backwards away from her.

_What is he doing…._

The assassin leered at her and smiled.

"Poisoned blades, bitch!"

Finding the nerve to respond, Irelia leered back at the assassin.

"Armor, bitch!"

Then with all the force she could muster she launched a final jumpkick at the assassin, launching him off the balcony and towards the floor of the library below.

_Crunch. _

Looking over the balcony Irelia stared at the body of the assassin.

_Not moving. Hopefully that ended that for good. _

_What am I going to tell the librarian? _

_Oh sorry, someone tried to assassinate me so I kicked him over a balcony._

Deciding to stay in the library and at least take some responsibility she leaned over the balcony and tried to ignore the body on the lower floor.

_It's funny. Because if Zelos was here I bet he would come up with some joke and I just stand here and stare at a corpse in complete silence. _

_Although I guess you could say the assassin...lost his balance._

* * *

_**Puts on sunglasses**_

_**...YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH...**_

_**Because Ionians...they love balance, that sort of thing...It's a horrible pun.**_

_**Also that Karmaraka isn't actually intended to be a ship. I dont even know why I put it in there tbh. It's just there.**_

_**Stay tuned!**_

_**-BBO**_


	10. Ninjas

I got bored, so I stopped writing for about 2-2 and a half weeks. That's all there is to it. Also this chapter was a bitch to write.

All 4000 words of it.

Enjoy

* * *

"Hey Shen."

"What is it?"

"Do you get the feeling something bad is about to happen?"

Around the Kinkou temple the afternoon sky was obscured by thick black clouds, and the wind was picking up speed and sending waves closer and closer to the top of the cliffs.

"It certainly looks like it will rain soon."

"That's not what I meant! Don't you think at least the weather just seems a little _unusual?"_

"Kennen, you're being paranoid. Go for a run around the island or something."

"But….Fine. _Lightning Rush!"_

Rapidly leaving Shen behind, Kennen built up speed and soon was flying along the cliffs towards the forested end of the island, until suddenly seeing something out of the corner of his eyes, he stopped dead in his tracks. A small boat hardly big enough to fit five people lay on the beach.

_I didn't know we used this beach for sailing. _

_Come to think of it I didn't think we used this boat for sailing either…._

_An invasion. _

_And there's only one place on the island where invaders can hide._

Without even glancing back towards the temple, Kennen darted into the thick canopy of the forest, before easily climbing as far away from the ground as he could. As he paused at the top of one of the thick tree branches, a noise suddenly rang out for a split second from deep somewhere deeper within the forest.

_Well that was almost too easy. There has to be a catch._

Silently scurrying between the tree tops in the direction of the noise, Kennen arrived deep in the heart of the now completely silent forest.

_The noise came from somewhere around here…._

Waiting for the invaders to show themselves, Kennen heard rustling directly below him and nearly fell off the tree branch in shock.

_I can't see them. Where are…_

As he stared intently a group of men leapt out of the nearby trees dressed entirely in black and red and landed on the forest floor below him without making a single noise.

_Well that…..was impressive. These Noxians are better than I thought they would be. _

The largest of the men, who resembled the tree he had jumped out of and appeared to even dwarf Shen began to speak, his voice muffled due to the metal mask he was wearing.

"We've been summoned. Return!"

_Perfect. _

Completely obscured by tree branches, Kennen began to follow the warriors further into the forest.

* * *

_I miss you._

_You never really smiled or showed emotion but somehow, I still found you compassionate and loving. You taught me everything there was to know, and you were always there for me when I needed you. You helped me find the path that was meant for me, and you made sure I never let go. _

_I miss you, mother. _

The sudden death of Akali's mother a few months ago had been a shock to everyone on the island, and had left Akali as the de-facto head of the Kinkou, which was more of a title than anything else due to their self-imposed isolation. _At least the Institute of War attempts to solve our problems. But in the meantime that leaves us to…..not much. _

"How's the tree?"

"Alive, as always."

As Akali had quickly realised she had no idea where her mothers grave should be placed they had placed it under the largest and most well kept tree on the island, only a few yards away from the temple itself.

"Have you seen Kennen anywhere?"

"No. Why?"

"We were walking around the island and he ran ahead of me 45 minutes ago. Are you sure he's not back yet?"

"Maybe he's found something interesting to o do?"

"By himself? For 45 minutes? With his attention span?"

"Good point. But what do you want me to about it?"

"Just if you see him, tell him I'm talking to my father and I want to talk in about an hours time."

"Good luck…."

"Hmph."

Returning to her meditation, it suddenly occurred to Akali she couldn't remember the last time Kennen wasn't 15 minutes early for something.

_And now he's late…..he must have found something really interesting._

* * *

Hovering directly above a group of 15 assassins that were all armed to the teeth, Kennen was listening to the group conversation as intently as possible. He had been worried the invaders would set up a clearing at the very least to serve as a camp, but instead….there was just more forest. And 10 other assassins that appeared to be sparring ruthlessly. He had been about to leave then but one of the assassins had mentioned a plan. And that didn't leave him a lot of other options.

"Why are we still waiting!"

"The Master's plan needs to work completely. We cannot have setbacks or failures."

"This is stupidly complicated."

"Do you want to have your head on a stick!?"

"He's not here now, is he?"

"That's what the last person said!"

"**He's away. Finishing his plan. So we wait."**

_Plan? Finish?_

"**And then, when he returns…we strike. Fear the shadows!"**

"Fear the shadows!"

_Time to go. _

_Chik. _

In the next split second after Kennen took a step forward he was shocked to find that he had made noise, and more shocked to find that what he had stepped on definitely didn't look remotely like a tree.

_It actually looks like some sort of mechanism. ?_

_But who would put something like this in a tree?_

_Unless_

_FU-_

* * *

Somehow, Akali found she had managed to actually sink into a trance while meditating instead of just sitting with her eyes shut, which was usually quite impressive.

_Finally, a good day where I can sit here, let my mind take me wherever I please…._

_The sun was shining ferociously as she found herself standing in the centre of the bustling Placidium marketplace. Looking around in amazement she revelled in the noise and the smells surrounding her, in relief at finally escaping the island that had held her for so long. _

_As she stood there simply taking in every sensation, a child's voice rang out clearly in her direction, "Mummy!"_

_Unsure why she was paying attention, when the girl ran up to her and grabbed her hand Akali simply stood there completely stunned for a split second. . _

"_I found something. Can you look at it! Please?!"_

_After staring at the child for a few seconds she found herself replying nearly automatically. _

"_If you insist…."_

"_It's this way!"_

_As the child practically dragged her along Akali tried to figure out who the father possibly could be. The child's hair was a deep brown except too short for a ponytail and her eyes were a piercing green. ild stopped pulling her and as Akali looked up found herself staring at ly escaping the island that had held her doe_

_If the father's Shen I'm fucked. _

_Maybe one of the students…_

_No that's embarrassing. It has to be imaginary. I'm never going to live this down….._

_Eventually the child stopped pulling her and as Akali looked up found herself staring at an enormous dragon nearly 20 feet long and 6 feet high. _

"_I don't think we can get you that sweetie…"_

"_But Irie said I can! Don't you Irie?"_

_Who on earth is…_

_Then a soft and feminine voice sang out from behind her and Akali turned around in shock. This doesn't make sense!_

"_Come on sweetie…just this once we can get something for our daughter, hmm? Or do you need persuasion?"_

_Suddenly she felt Irelia's warm arms around her neck, pulling her in and then, Irelia was making out with her as hard as she could….._

_Aaaaaaa-_

Frantically pulling herself away from Irelia, Akali woke up and nearly fell over backwards. .

"SHIT!"

She sat up again, finding her body as stiff as a board and that she was blushing furiously.

_What the…_

_The fuck…._

"What the fuck is wrong with me?! That didn't…."

Standing there confused and panicked she found even more blood rushing to her head.

_I haven't thought about her for years!_

_Am I…._

_No. That wasn't even romantic! That was just…..terrifying. _

Vivid memories that had been suppressed after a year of hopeful waiting suddenly re-entered her mind.

_I'm supposed to have forgotten about her! I want to be able to have forgotten about her!_

_I gave up thinking about her 5 years ago and it still happens!_

_Why does it still happen damnit!_

"Akali!"

"Shen! What's…."

Shens usually blank face had been completely replaced with nothing but rage.

"With me, now!"

"What's going on?"

"We've been attacked!"

"What do you mean, _attacked?"_

"An assassin was just seconds away from killing my father. I managed to get in the way but whoever it was escaped into the woods."

_Noxians._

"Do you think that's got something to do with…"

"I hope not. Go and look in the woods for Kennen. I'm going to track the assassin down."

"Are you insane?! You want him to assassinate _you_ as well?"

"Don't. Question. Me. Just go!"

Too concerned for Kennen's safety to argue any further, Akali sprinted into the forest.

* * *

Sprinting through the forest pathway just slow enough to see where she was going, Akali somehow managed to keep herself upright and look around for Kennen at the same time. The forest itself just seemed to be a passage of blurs around her but she knew, _hoped_ that Kennen wouldn't have left the path and that she would find him any second now.

"Kennen!"

_I'm never going to be able to find him at this rate! I need to move faster!_

"Kennen! Ken-"

Suddenly a jet-black shuriken flew out from nowhere, just barely missing her shoulder.. Instantly on high alert, she spun around and an assassin dressed in jet black sprinted out of the trees straight towards her. Reacting instantly she threw one one of her kamas, and as he was just about to get into range to attack her.

_Shadow dance!_

_Thud._

Picking up her Kansa she inspected the body in front of her.

_Some sort of mask, male, shuriken, bladed gauntlets…Well built…lithe…and Ionian?_

_That's strange. _

"_**Interesting**_**."**

_Two assass- _Barely registering the rest of the thought, she turned to see another assassin behind her with a far larger and more detailed mask than the first standing there rather nonchalantly. She began to eye him off for a strike only to find he didn't react at all.

"Who the hell are you?"

"_**Mwahahahahahahaha**_**…****."**

"Tell me or I'll strike you down!"

"_**You actually don't remember who I am?!"**_

In one swift movement the mask obscuring the assassins face fell to the ground, leaving Akali speechless.

"…No…"

"_**Yes…that's right. You abandoned me. The entire order abandoned me! But now I've come back to show everyone darkness truly is more powerful!**_

"I…I'm going to KILL YOU!"

"_**That's right…let the darkness consume your mind your fear and anger cold your judgement!"**_

"You killed Kennen!" The fact that the whole forest could hear them wasn't bothering Zed in the least, assuming that the Zed she was aware of still existed.

"_**I haven't killed him, I simply humiliated him….for now."**_

"What the FUCK is that supposed to mean?"

In response Zed smiled at her as if he had been waiting for this moment in the conversation.

"_**Join us Akali…use your talents for the power of Shadow or Kennen dies!"**_

"How do I know you're not lying?"

"_**You don't. Unless you follow me."**_

_Here's only one option where I can be certain of keeping Kennen alive _

As Akali finished thinking she realised there was complete silence.

"Well?'Are you going to take me to Kennen?"

"_**You've decided well."**_

"_Fuckhead."_

In response, Zed simply sneered at her_**.**_

"_**Soon you shall realise the truth of the Shadow Order."**_

* * *

As Akali entered the camp, the first thing she noticed was that Zed was taking the Shadow Order very seriously. At least 20 members seemed to be hovering around the camp dressed entirely in black and red and avoiding any eye contact with her.

_This group is nearly half the size of our own Order._

A_How did he find so many people?_

"_**Recruiting people to the dark side is so easy. Everyone has thoughts of revenge, deceit, pride. And once I have what I need I intend to show everyone that this is the case."**_

Akali looked around at the nonexistent campsite._**"**_Some camp you've got here."

"_**The bare essentials are required as my recruits obey my every word. I am stronger and faster than they will ever be and I kill those who disagree with me."**_

"You're a _monster_."

"_**And you are an assassin, who kills anyone she's told to. Hypocrisy is, and always will be, the greatest of all evils."**_

As she finished viewing the campsite she warily pointed a karma at Zed.

"Where's Kennen?!"

"_**Open the bag."**_

"You can't keep Kennen inside a _bag_."

"_**You can if you use negatron."**_

"You fuckers thought ahead for this."

Opening the bag herself, she quickly ducked to avoid the yordle she anticipated would come flying at her face but instead he flew directly at Zed, who was now surrounded by ninjas.

"_I'm going to kill you!"_

"Kennen_, stop!"_

"A-Akali? What are you…?"

"_**She came here so she could join the true ninja order!"**_

"I came here to save you!"

Kennen who was clearly about to explode with rage at this point snarled directly at Zed.

"I'm not going to let you fuckers get away with this!"

"_**Unless you want to both die there isn't any other option. And besides I'm sure you can always find a better replacement for her somewhere."**_

Rushing forwards, Akali began to restrain Kennen with one arm, while holding both Karma's in the other.

"Kennen….leave it. Because I'm not joining them anyway."

Zed's expression changed so little she was beginning to wonder if he was hearing what she was saying, but she continued anyway.

"This isn't a new order of the ninjas. This is a group of murderers! You say that everyone is just like you but you've long lost the only things that matter. And if I have to fight all of you at once, so be it."

"_**Suicide instead of admitting to the darkness within you? Surely it would be easier to admit to you hidden emotions, to admit that what you call balance is nothing of the sort! Why can't you just accept the truth?"**_

When Akali opened her mouth she wasn't even remotely surprised to hear Shen speaking as well as herself as he teleported himself in next to her. .

"Because it's a small island."

"Every single ninja can see the storm clouds that you happen to be under Zed. It's over."

"_**I honestly thought the fist of shadow would be interested in learning the I was wrong. Kill them!"**_

"Kennen, storm front, straight ahead, now!"

"Eat lightning bitches! Kyaaaaaaaah!"

"Akali, wait for my signal!" Shen dashed forwards taking and took several of the men with him, but leaving Akali staring off against two of the largest men she'd ever seen, and completely unafraid of either of them.

"Well, who wants to die first?"

Charging at exactly the same time towards her, the apparent answer they gave was "Both."

So then she vanished.

The two men took a second to realise this and instantly threw their gauntlets out in a circle, the blades flying straight over her head as she flattened herself to the ground.

_You want to both die first?_

_Well I might save you for last then. _

"Akali, now!"

Throwing herself at the first of the two men she immediately jumped away as soon as she reached him and headed towards the second.

"One second!"

Doubling back, Shen slammed a Ki strike into the seconds ribs as he tried to counter and Akali flew off unharmed and went towards the third one who was struck by her kamas midair and finished off before he hit the ground.

Looking up she surveyed the rest of them who were all in barely any sort condition to keep going having taken lightning to the face multiple times.

Which was a shame.

She was just getting started.

* * *

**_Idiots. _**

_**You give them one job and they fail as soon as you leave. **_

The barely contained anger Zed felt for his students was rising again and was stronger than he had ever felt it.

_**Could it be that Akali did not sway as much as I had hoped she would? Did she not see the truth? Maybe she needs to have suffered more to fully understand like I do.**_

"Master…is something wrong?"

"_**My plan failed."**_

"With group C? Well what should we do?"

"_**Get the other groups! We're going to storm the fucking temple!"**_

_**I'll give her something to hate alright.**_

Staring at the aftermath of the fight Akali couldn't help but wonder if the whole experience had felt a little _easy_ somehow. One quick glance at Kennen indicated he and Shen were definitely thinking the same thing.

"That was way too easy."

"Indeed. The one thing that turned the tide of the fight was the arrival of the other ninjas, but why would Zed not see it coming?"

"He's definitely arrogant enough to not see this coming. But even if he didn't…"

"What?"

"He has to have a larger army on the island. He has to. "

"But we decimated it just then! There's no way that… he can fight us now!"

"He never intended to fight us. The first thing he did was try and exchange Kennen for my obedience and he only tried to kill me when I refused."

"So why bring 15 others onto the island?"

Then realisation struck.

"Who's guarding the temple?"

Complete silence. Then Shen turned and Akali could clearly see the fear in his eyes.

"Back to the temple! NOW!"

* * *

"_**You are beginning to make me lose my patience!"**_

"Zed, please! Listen to me! I only want to help you as your father!"

"_**I HAVE NO FATHER!"**_

Zed's furious yell resonated off the walls of the building and out into the temple's courtyard. His old master, trying to stop him? Wanting Zed to treat him as his father after years of humiliation? The only dignified thing would be to kill the old man here and shut him up, but Zed couldn't rely on anybody else knowing where the box was. Which left him trapped in the temple while his enemies could regroup behind him.

"I implore you then, as your equal! Dedicate yourself to balance, cast off the shadows upon you and destroy the box!"

Barely remaining calm, Zed stopped himself from grabbing the man by the throat as soon as he mentioned the box.

"_**The box. Show me, where is it?!"**_

"I knew I could have some faith in you! Come this way and redeem yourself and your followers!"

Barely listening to his former masters meaningless words, Zed signalled hides followers to stay, and silently began to follow him into the heart of the temple.

* * *

Sprinting headlong into the temple expecting a battle, Akali found nothing. The entire temple was completely silent.

"Shen…"

"There's nobody here."

"Is this good?"

"Yes. Kennen would be kicking up a storm if something had happened."

"But what on Runeterra is going on? We don't even know what he's thinking."

"Zed?"

"Your father."

"I'm going to look for Kennen. You go after Zed. If you see him, kill him on sight."

"Shen…"

"I'm not taking any risks. He's dangerous and you know your job."

Not about to tell Shen he was missing the point, Akali silently followed Shen through the halls.

"They have to be in the same place right? There would be a lot more noise if they weren't. "

Walking into the main chamber of the temple, Akali suddenly stopped dead in her tracks.

_My god…._

At least 40 ninjas wearing shades of red and blue had crammed themselves into opposite corners of the room and were staring each other down. The resulting silence was intoxicatingly powerful.

_If anything goes wrong this room is going to wind up in fucking chaos. . _

As an anguished cry suddenly sounded in the next room every single ninja in the room spun around and faced towards the doorway. Then Zed walked out of the room holding something in his hands and staring straight at Akali. Wordlessly he threw it at Shen's feet and Akali found her gaze drawn towards it as if by magnets.

It was a head.

For the first time in her life Akali saw red and suddenly found herself charging towards Zed, completely unable to stop and absolutely wanting to tear his throat out. .

Zed's mask tilted towards her and in that instant it almost seemed like he was taunting er to attack him.

"_**KILL THEM! KILL THEM ALL!"**_

As she grabbed her kama and was ready to cut his throat out Zed vanished and without even stopping to think, she plunged straight into the shadows after him.

Emerging from the shadows she was shocked to find Zed simply looking at her form a few metres awayl

"_You killed Shen's father! And for that…I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"_

"_**If you insist….Behold the mark of death!"**_

Without any warning Zed suddenly appeared behind her and suddenly two pairs of razor sharp blades were travelling directly towards her. Ducking she leapt at him, only to find herself charging straight through him and sliding to a halt as a shuriken pierced her arm.

Staring him down she was suddenly surprised when another real gauntlet slammed into her side, as Zed suddenly reappeared behind her, followed by an explosion that left her barely on her knees.

"_**You honestly thought you could beat the master assassin?! Now behold as I finish my training and become a true warrior of shadow!"**_

Akali was pretty much only conscious at this point due to raw desire to see Zed in pain.

"Don't count on it."

Desperately, she threw a Kama at Zed, which somehow landed. Then she leapt at Zed hoping to survive using pure willpower only for Zed to simply grip her by the throat.

Struggling, she tore herself out of his grasp and grunted as she landed heavily on _something. _

She looked at what she had landed on in slight amusement.

_The box. And I think I might have broken it somehow. That's ironic. _

Zed simply stated at her in astonishment before grabbing her by the neck again.

"_**What have YOU DONE?!"**_

Looking around at the wreckage of the box Akali realised she couldn't see anything the box actually contained, other than presumably some sort of smoke pellet. A thick cloud of black smoke had emerged from the box and only seemed to be getting larger and more irritating by the second.

"There's nothing here fuckhead. All you effort, all your desires for the box and there's nothing in it but smoke!"

"_**How dare you speak like that! I am better than you'll ever be and I will not tolerate this!"**_

The smoke that was in the box seemed to be turning the whole surroundings completely black at this point, leaving Akali to wonder if Zed could see it too.

_Finding it harder to think….All I can think about is Irelia…_

Sensing someone else sprinting towards her she tried desperately to bring herself out of her stupor in time, before Shen suddenly ran out of nowhere and knocked Zed to the ground.

"Akali, evacuate now!"

As soon as Shen gave her the order and started sprinting towards the cliffsAkali's energy band focus somehow skyrocketed. Nearing the cliffs Akali couldn't see any of the Kinkou or the order which had to be either a good or a terrible sign.

"How many boats are left?"

"There aren't any! Just jump!"

_Jump!? Just jump!?_

Turning around Akali saw another ten shadow ninjas sprinting towards them.

"We need to engage!"

"The islands lost! I'll meet you at the Placidium!"

_Oh you have got to be joking..._

As she looked towards the edge of the cliff a strange form of adrenaline gripped her. Without even bothering to consider the height of the cliff and putting blind faith in Shen's orders she pushed herself as far off the cliff as she possibly could….

And then there was nothing but air.

* * *

"Master. Is something wrong…."

"_**The box. It was supposed to all be mine!"**_

"The Kinkou escaped and took the boats with them. We have no way off the island."

"_**IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE ALL MINE!"**_

"Master?"

"…_**Well build more boats then, IDIOT!"**_

"…"

"_**So we have succeeded?"**_

"Yes."

"_**Apologies. I'm finding it hard to think clearly, presumably due to some after effects."**_

"Of the container?"

"_**Indeed**_

_**When he boats are finished, I will travel to Ionia and find the Fist of Shadow.**_

_**I have to find how much she took me and take it back.**_

_**By any means necessary. **_


End file.
